THE dream of running her own business was the only thing that kept Sue Watkinson going through the years of working in dead-end jobs.

As she moved from one firm to another the 32-year-old, of Buchanan Street, Leigh, was happy in the knowledge that one day she would be her own boss.

Her dream finally came true 18 months ago when she opened the first of her two make-up stalls in the Boulevard.

But the fire which raged through the shopping arcade on Tuesday morning left the mother-of-two's life and ambition's in tatters.

"It is heart-breaking when you see something you have built up from scratch and worked hard six days a week on destroyed," she said. "I'm absolutely gutted."

Friends had tried to contact Sue throughout the morning to tell her about the fire, but she could not hear the telephone. It was 8am when she finally awoke and was told the bad news over the phone.

She said: "I ran straight to the Boulevard. I thought something would be salvageable, I still had that glimmer of hope. When I realised it was all gone I just went to pieces.

"Everybody was hugging one another and crying, we were all like a big family in there."

Sue's two children, Rebecca, 10, and four-year-old Curtis, have also been upset by the fire, after seeing their mum do so well with the two stalls.

For now, she does not know what the future holds. She hopes she is covered by her insurance policy and would like to set-up her own business again sometime in the future.