Arson

[ceres]

The building on our site (a former stable block) was hit by arsonists last night and has been completely destroyed.  We've lost our cafe, the shop stock, lock-ups, communal tools, site records etc. etc.  Gutted  :'(

[ceres]

[betula]

So very sorry Ceres,yet another mindless act by scum. >:(

[asbean]

Sods.  I do hope they get caught - otherwise they'll do it again somewhere else.  >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

[ceres]

Thanks betula and asbean.  We can't get in to see if anything is salvageable until forensics have finished.

It's been a horrid 2 days.  10 days ago we got a skip on site.  When it was full we called the company to take it away and they sent a lorry which got stuck in soft ground where the skip was parked.  It had to be towed off, leaving the skip behind.  The company said they would wait until the ground had dried out before trying again but turned up yesterday morning after the heavy rain on Sunday night  ???  The lorry got stuck again, worse this time so they sent a second lorry which also got badly stuck.  It took 4 hours of them pushing and pulling each other with chains and strops and the skip arms to get out but in the process they complelety ploughed up our communal area, one of our roads and a plot.

Just waiting for the third disaster  :(

[daileg]

sorry to hear ceres the little blighters will have there day I'm a believer every dog has his day you might not see it or hear about it just hope who ever did it is over 15 or you will stand no chance of getting a conviction as the rules dont allow justice to be served on a minor unless its considered to be prolific offender otherwise a comunity order is all what will be given

[saddad]

Sorry to hear about that Ceres..  :(

[littlebabybird]

Ceres  I'm so sorry
lbb

[thifasmom]

i am very sorry to hear of this, wish you all at you plot happier days, and the bast**ds that did this i wish them a public whipping.

[Barnowl]

Very sorry to hear about this Ceres.

[caroline7758]

That's horrible news, Ceres. have you got any insurance?

[ceres]

Thanks all.  Been there all day waiting for SOCO to finish and let us make the site safe.  Will post more later - have had nothing to eat all day and have a blinding headache so will sort myself out first.

[Sinbad7]

I'm so sorry Ceres, a normal break-in, damage is bad enough and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.  I dread to think how you must be feeling.

Take care,

Sinbad

[Hyacinth]

Echoing all the feelings peeps have expressed about this mindless arson/vandalism. :'(

It's done! Hope that you and the others are pulling together & comforting each other & hope you sleep well tonite. Nothing more you can do....b****rds have alread done it, haven't they?

So, tomorrow's another day....time to re-group..

All the v.v.v. best, Lishka X

[ceres]

It's really nice to have support from other like-minded people, thanks everyone.

Not only did we have the fire, but shed were broken into too, mine included.  10 we've found so far, there will be more.

A police helicopter was going back to base at 3am when they spotted flames en route.  They thought it was the cricket club that we back onto, so called the fire brigade to the club.  When they got there, they realised it was the other side of a 10 foot brick wall, so they fought the fire from there to save the cricket club.  Our chairman got a call at 4am and when he got to the site the police had just jemmied our main gates and some of the fire brigade arrived.  The roof of our building had burned and collapsed setting fire to the stuff underneath.  Fire investigators were on site in the early hours and then SOCO turned up mid-morning.  SOCO think the fire started in the roof, they found new beer cans in the guttering, including one unopened can!  One wall of the building has collapsed, we're getting a surveyor tomorrow to assess the safety of the remainder.

3 plotholders have lost all their tools. the wall collapsed onto the plot of one chap who has lost all his tools so a double whammy.  All the stock for the shop and all the cafe equipment is gone along with pumps, spare parts, timber, tools, you name it.......  And our 'office' papers were kept in there too so all our inspection files, the day book, receipt books etc. etc.

But people are being amazing.  We've had lots of offers of help today and the volunteers who run the cafe are meeting tonight and are determined the cafe will be open for business as usual on Sunday morning in a tent.

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[betula]

Wished you lived closer,would have come and helped clear up.

Well done to everybody for pulling together. :)

[Hyacinth]

Well done to everybody for pulling together. :)

Including the p'lice and Emergency Services :)

well done, everybody

[pippy]

You know, they say what doen't kill you makes you stronger Ceres.  So sorry to hear you are having such a rotten run of things .... I was going to say of luck, but I guess it's not luck at all - just thugs :(

Hope you all pick up and pull together for a fab year - it sounds like you have a great team there.  Hope they get the thugs who did it too ... >:( >:(

[Flighty]

That must be so disheartening! My sympathies.

[Tin Shed]

So sorry to hear about your site, Ceres. Having had one shed burnt down in the past as well as all our communal areas torched many years ago  I know what it feels like. :-[
We are in the middle of another vandalism phase on our site at the moment  - 40 sheds broken over the last few days and about 20+ in the couple of weeks prior to that - and of course not forgetting the graffiti 'artists......
Anyway, we carry on - we are not going to let the little charmers win.

[kt.]

Not good news.  Hopefully things will work out for you all.