A father and son were left devastated after fire destroyed their fruit and vegetable stall at Colchester market.

A caravan was gutted and hundreds of pounds of stock were lost in the blaze that broke out at around 11.15pm on Friday.

The stall has been at Vineyard Street for eight years and is run by Howard Barker, 40, and his father Clive, 64, both of Great Baddow, Chelmsford.

The rest of the regular market was unaffected and traded as normal on Saturday.

Clive Barker, a well-known face in Colchester, said some regular shoppers had been so upset by the fire they had cried.

He said: "Some people turned up to do their weekly shop, saw what had happened and were just in tears. We have some very loyal customers.

"We are absolutely devastated. You work hard to make a living and then something like this happens.

"We hope to be up and running within a few weeks but will see what happens. We are still in shock and are just trying to get over it."

A fire crew from Colchester attended the scene after the alarm was raised by an employee of the Barkers'.

Station Officer George Bruce, of Colchester Fire Station, said the fire was not of doubtful origin. He said it could have been caused by an electrical fault.

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