The family of the man wrongly accused of starting a major town centre shop blaze have spoken of their six months of hell.

Adam Stajer was last week cleared of having anything to do with the devastating fire, which caused £5 million in damage to a row of shops in Week Street, Maidstone in June.

Fresh evidence from a new witness meant the case against the 21-year-old Slovak Roma could not continue.

He was released from Maidstone Crown Court shortly after last Wednesday’s hearing and has since returned to his native country.

His family have since revealed they spent so much on fighting for his freedom, they now risk losing their home.

His mother Eva Stajerova, a chairman at a hospital in Slovakia, added: "We and also our older son got into debt because of this, we have borrowed so much money that now it is possible that we lose our apartment."

Before moving to Maidstone, Mr Stajer had been studying law and although he passed the exams to move to the next year, had decided to go to England to earn money for his future studies.

Mr Stajer had previously received an international award for his work helping children from socially disadvantaged families.

With his older brother, Mario, a social worker, he had set up a charity organisation helping to integrate minorities and they were also helping homeless people.

He was arrested on June 11 and remained in custody until December 16.

It was alleged he had set fire to rubbish outside The Works book store as he made his way home from a nearby gambling shop in the early hours of June 8.

Mr Stajer, who worked at Shamrat Indian restaurant in Lower Stone Street, said: "At first I thought it was a normal police procedure, that they need to question all the people who were near the crime scene.

"I thought I would be released after the questioning, but it did not happen, and I was taken to jail."

Now back with his parents in the central Slovakian city of Banska Bystrica, his mother said: "I am so happy that he is back home. I did not believe it until I saw him free."

His father Gejza Stajer said: "It was big shock and a miserable time for us but now we are happy because truth and justice won."