Arson attack on school sports pavilion

Now the school may have to use money needed for other projects in order to put a security fence round the playing fields.

Firefighters from Bexhill and Hastings who arrived at the High School sports field at Gunters Lane on Monday evening found smoke pouring through the roof of wooden changing rooms backing on to Turkey Road and a blazing moped propped against the building..

Two crewmen wearing breathing apparatus made their way into the burning building and fought the blaze with hose-reels.

Crews were on scene for an hour but believed they had managed to save the building. Part of a ceiling had to be removed to get at the blaze.

Witnesses said they saw a group of teenagers running from the scene. Inspector Max Mosley said police had received a report that a moped had been rammed into the building and set alight. The moped was so badly damaged in the fire that police were having difficulty the following morning establishing its make, let alone its registration number. They were checking records of stolen mopeds. It is thought the machine was either a Piaggio or Gilera.

A discarded cigarette lighter was found at the scene. Inspector Mosley said: "Arson is a very serious offence. Offenders can expect to be dealt with severely."