A JAMAICAN cook has opened a new restaurant, just months after his business was gutted by a fire.

Kevin Sappleton had gone to the bank but returned to find firefighters battling a blaze in his yellow food truck, which he used in Selborne Road in Hove.

Fire ripped through the vehicle, which 42-year-old Mr Sappleton had been running for two years.

He had built his company’s reputation by using the van to appear at events across Sussex and beyond.

The blaze forced him to cancel attending the Notting Hill Carnival, Eastbourne gay pride, and the Bexhill Carnival.

But now, after asking for support from his customers, the father-of-seven has now opened a new restaurant in Eastbourne.

He said: “It was really horrible, when I saw the van afterwards, I saw that everything had crumbled right there.

“Everything I had was burned up in that van. Afterwards the van was written off and I felt like a fish out of water, I couldn’t breathe.”

Mr Sappleton set up an online fundraising page, and gained support from his customers in order to rebuilt his business.

In total some £900 was donated, which helped him to find a premises and get back on his feet.

On Sunday he officially opened his restaurant in Seaside Road in Eastbourne, with MP Stephen Lloyd cutting the ribbon.

It is the town’s first and only Jamaican restaurant, he said.

Previously he had traded in the town for two days each week, and was a popular fixture at the market in Terminus Road.

Eastbourne based designer Olly Prentice helped him with the decoration of the new restaurant, and now Mr Sappleton is already busy working to make his venture a success.