Over £1,000 has been raised for an Ashby man whose Measham-based cafe was forced to close after a group of travellers moved into the same lay-by.

Paul Boyle has had to shut the Ace of Spades down because of damage allegedly caused to his fixed-unit property.

But a Measham businessman set up a Just Giving page with the aim of raising £200 for Paul while he has been unable to earn a living.

However, the donations passed the £1,000 mark on Tuesday leaving Paul overwhelmed at the generosity shown.

It is hoped that the travellers will be moved on later this week - but Paul has yet to assess what will now happen to the business he started around 15 months ago on Bird's Hill, Measham, towards the M42.

He said he was surprised by the generosity shown towards him.

"I'm actually pretty amazed, but I'm over the moon about the way local people have reacted to it and collected money, the first day raised £400 which surprised me so much," said Paul who now expects the travellers to be moved on later this week.

"The council are in court on Thursday to get the injunction and they'll be evicted on Friday.

"Then I can find out what's left of the building. I was up there earlier this week with the police so that I could have a look round.

"There's quite a lot of mess."

Paul says that it is not only financial assistance he has had.

"I've had so many offers from people to help clean up, but until they actually go, I don't know if I've got a business or not," he added.

"There's nothing I can do, I can only wait.

"It's taken a lot of hard work to build the business and I was just getting to the stage where I was looking forward to the new year.

"It had been going so well - but this has killed me and set me back six months."

Ashley Banton, of Measham Hardware and Hansons Barbers, decided to set up the crowdfunding scheme in support of Paul as a local businessman.

"He's not earning any money of course, he can't open the cafe," he explained.

"As a local business, he buys things from us and that's having a knock on effect to people like me.

"But I'm earning money still when he's not, and at the end of the day, it's his livelihood.

"We just thought we'd try and raise something although it won't cover everything. We've had response from a couple of businesses Howland Jones and Secura Labels, but there's been a massive amount of support from the general public - people who haven't even been in his cafe - it's fantastic for him. It's not just the people who've supported him directly, it's members of the public too.

"We started off with a target of £200 thinking people would put a couple of pounds in. But they've been donating £20, £30, some people have put in £50 so we're well over the target.

"Every penny goes towards helping him."

Ashley says Paul's reaction has been overwhelming.

"He didn't know we'd set the page up, and when I called, he didn't know why anyone would do that and I told him people want to support you," he added.

"If it happened to anyone else, we'd support them as well. It's what you do for small businesses. At the end of the day, he's a self employed businessman who's not earning any money."

Anyone wishing donate can find a link to the Just Giving Page by clicking the red 'additional info' button below.