A Bath jeweller has spoken of the horror of watching his business go up in flames.
Nicholas Wylde, of Nicholas Wylde Jewellery Designer and Goldsmith, said he felt helpless as he watched his Bath store become consumed by fire.
The businessman was called at 12.15am this morning because of a fire at his shop in Northumberland Place.
He said: "We attended the fire immediately.
"It's just very sad to see it up in flames, to watch the flames billowing out. We're all pretty devastated.
"The main thing is it happened during the night and no one was in the building or surrounding buildings."
Mr Wylde said despite the fire destroying the shop, which will now have to be completely refurbished, all jewellery stored on the premises over night appeared to be intact.
Fellow traders in Northumberland Place said they were shocked by what had happened.
Kim Wheeler, assistant manager at Roscoff Deli, said businesses would rally in support.
She said: "We're absolutely gutted for the bloke. It's so, so sad. It is devastating. Our best wishes go out to him."
Simon and Elaine Rogers run Rickards luggage shop, which is next door to the jewellery store. The couple said they received a call in the early hours of the morning to tell them their shop alarm was going off, but were advised not to go to the scene.
This morning the pair were waiting anxiously to gain access to their business.
Mr Rogers said: "We can't go in at the moment so we can't assess the damage. We have been told there could be possible water and smoke damage."
Mrs Rogers added: "It's so shocking - can't believe it's happened."
Executive director of Bath Chamber of Commerce, Ian Bell, said Nicholas Wylde was one of Bath's most successful independent businesses and offered his sympathy to Mr Wylde.
He said: "We wish him all the best with the rebuild. He's a very well-known and popular figure in the city and I am sure the business community will rally around and help out what ever we can."
Fire fighters were called to scene at around 12.15am after reports that the four-storey building was alight.
Four crews from Bath attended the scene, where they found the blaze mainly contained to the jewellery shop on the ground floor, but also affecting a storage room on the second floor.
They used high pressure hose reels and jets to tackle the flames and remained at the site until around 1.40am.
The team, which was also supported by fire crews from Brislington and Kingswood, carried out checks throughout the early hours of the morning to make sure the fire was completely out.
An Avon Fire and Rescue spokesman said investigations would start to determine the cause of the fire.
Nicholas Wylde is a long-established name in Bath and last year marked 25 years in the jewellery business.
It has around 30,000 clients, including members of the Royal Family, couple Jamie Cullum and Sophie Dahl, singer Richard Ashcroft and Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams.
Customers concerned about jewellery are advised to contact Nicholas Wylde's Bristol store on 01179 743582.
* Do you have any photographs of the fire? Please send them to news@bathchron.co.uk.
