A MAN who escaped from a burning building has told of his fear that arsonists will come back to finish the job.

David Crutchley was alerted to the blaze by the sound of exploding paint cans as ceiling-high flames ripped through the decorator shop below his Dorchester flat.

He was told that he might not have survived if he hadn’t already been awake in the early hours of the morning.

Police have confirmed that the fire at The Decorator Centre in St George’s Road is being treated as arson.

Postman Mr Crutchley, 42, dialled 999 at 2.45am as the inferno spread through the shop.

He said: “I was finding it hard to sleep that night and got up and had a cup of tea.

“I was just going back to bed when I heard this banging noise – at first I thought it was someone kicking next door’s door in.

“I looked out of the window and saw the flames – it was lucky I did because no one else in the street woke up.”

Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes of him fleeing the building, Mr Crutchley said.

The flat next door to Mr Crutchley was empty at the time.

He added: “My whole flat was covered in smoke. The fireman said ‘you’re lucky to be alive’.

“I feel threatened because I don’t know what’s going on. I’m scared they’re going to come back.

“I didn’t sleep for the whole of the weekend, I kept waking up every half hour. It’s been a bit of a nightmare.”

Rupert and Anne-Marie Morton, who are partners in The Decorator Centre, have been forced to close their shop.

All of the stock was destroyed in the fire and it will be months before the shop is open for business again.

Mr Morton said: “This crime is absolutely diabolical from which-ever way you look at it.

“My stomach has been in a knot ever since I found out about this.

“We’re now considering the future of our business.”

The couple, from Milborne St Andrew, run a sister decorating shop in Bridport and employed a member of staff at the Dorchester shop, which they’ve run for five and a half years.

Anne-Marie said: “I can’t believe that this has happened in Dorchester. It always seemed like a safe place.

“How can someone do something like this? We’ve just got through the recession and now this – it’s devastating.”

Police are appealing for information about the arson attack.

Detective Constable Neil Gilbraith, of Weymouth CID, said: “I understand that the offender may have poured an accelerant through the letterbox of the front door and then started the fire.

“This is clearly a reckless and highly dangerous thing to do.

“It may be that someone recalls suspicious activity along St George’s Road or remembers a person smelling of smoke.”

Call Dorchester Police Station on 01305 222 222.