A man who spent two years lovingly restoring a classic car to prize-winning condition has offered a reward for the capture of the arsonists who destroyed it.

Terry Gibbs's beloved 1960 Morris Minor 1000 was left little more than a mangled and twisted shell after a fire on Sunday.

Mr Gibbs had just returned to his home in Coppice Close, Stanmore, at about 8pm when to his horror he saw firefighters around the garage in nearby Masefield Avenue where his car was kept.

"I saw what they'd done to my car and my heart sank," the 19-year-old greengrocer said.

"I put my heart and soul into fixing that car up and in a few minutes it had been written off. The glass had melted and the metal was buckled."

Mr Gibbs bought the car when he was 16 and too young to drive it. He spent two years restoring it to pristine condition and a value of £3,500 and last year won top prize in a car show at Tring.

Fire investigators have confirmed that the fire was started deliberately and is being investigated by Harrow CID.

Mr Gibbs has put up a £200 reward for information leading to the conviction of the arsonists and in a bid to stamp out vandalism in the area. In the early hours of Tuesday morning there was a similar fire in nearby Algar Close.

"It's just mindless vandalism by kids who get a buzz out of starting fires," Mr Gibbs said. "There's not much can be done about it so I just have to get on with life.

"I'm fixing up another car for my sister at the moment, but I don't know if I've got the heart to do up another one for myself. Not if it's just going to get torched three years down the line."

Witnesses should ring Harrow CID on 0181 733 3434.

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