Restaurant boss watched business 'go up in flames'

The owner of a restaurant which was destroyed in a fire has told of how he felt "absolutely numb" after seeing the ruins of "everything he had worked for".

Adam Noble opened the Greek eatery Medusa in September, and said the first few months of business were "amazing".

But on Christmas Eve a chip pan fire tore through the premises in Waterloo, Sefton, and damaged the entire interior of the restaurant, forcing Mr Noble to shut up shop.

More than a month on, Mr Noble, 30, is preparing to reopen, something which he said was only possible with the help of friends, family, staff and the community.

Medusa first came about after Mr Noble "fell in love" with the building, where there was an already established pizza business.

"I was just really drawn to the place and so I went a couple of times as a customer and found it to be a very friendly, community-based place," he said.

Mr Noble said: "So that's what made me put in an offer in the first place."

He bought the premises and eventually decided it would serve Greek food, the same type he had sold while operating a food truck.

Mr Noble said the first few months "could not have gone any better".

But things took a turn for the worst when a fire took hold in the kitchen at around midday on 24 December.

Mr Noble said he had been trying to "get some downtime" before Christmas when he got the call from a staff member that the restaurant was alight.

He rushed down to find it all but destroyed.

"I had left the restaurant that morning with it looking beautiful, and then I came back and it was all over," he said.

"I put absolutely everything I had into this restaurant and had worked my whole life to get to that point.

"To see it quite literally go up in flames left me feeling numb."

He added: "I was looking at my beautiful restaurant and it had been absolutely destroyed. I just went into shock because it was ruined."

Mr Noble said the weeks which followed were tough, and that he spent time trying to salvage stock from the charred remains.

After hearing about the incident, the builder who renovated the restaurant in the first place offered to help with the restoration.

"That was a big lifeline because I knew I could put it in his hands, and that he would piece it all back together for me," he said.

"A friend of mine also started a fundraiser for me which I didn't ask for, and they raised thousands from friends, family, employees and customers who wanted to donate to get us back open."

The restaurant is set to reopen on Friday.

"It's surreal and a little bit scary, to be honest," he said.

"But as soon as my builder told me he was ready to give me the keys it made me so excited and ready to absolutely smash it."

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