10/10/2005

Suspicious blaze destroys pier buildings

A fire which destroyed a section of the Southend Pier is being treated as suspected arson.

The fire appears to have started in a pub, the Jolly Fisherman, and spread quickly to other parts of the pier's wooden structure. Several buildings have collapsed into the sea, though the iron framework of the affected part of the pier remains standing.

While no-one is reported to have been injured there were fears that anglers trapped by the fire may have been in the water and Coastguard search and rescue teams assisted by a helicopter combed the area around the pier.

First spotted at around 10.40pm on Sunday, fire crews fought throughout the night to contain the huge blaze, which has devastated a large section of the world's longest pleasure pier.

Firefighters had to wait for daybreak before moving closer to the area where the fire had occurred as the wooden flooring and structures were in a dangerous state.

An investigation into the blaze will begin once the area is declared safe.

Elsewhere, a fire has destroyed much of a collection of sets and models used by Oscar-winning company Aardman Animations, the production company behind the Wallace and Gromit characters.

The blaze, which swept through the company's Victorian premises in Bristol, destroyed the entire model archive of the firm from Morph to Chicken Run, and Wallace and Gromit.

However, the sets and characters from the latest box-office topping film, 'Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' which were being stored at another location, are believed to be safe.

(SP/KMcA)

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