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Cricket equipment destroyed in suspected arson

Saltash Cricket Club Firefighter at the scene of the blaze in Cornwall. The firefighter is wearing fire safety equipment. The firefighter is stood inside of the burnt container and is spraying water to dampen down hotspots. Items within the container are black and burnt.Saltash Cricket Club
A fundraiser has been set up for the club

Cricket bats, stumps, scoreboards and maintenance machinery have been "destroyed" in a suspected arson attack at a cricket club, police have said.

Devon and Cornwall Police said it was called to a shipping container at Chapel Field, Saltash, in Cornwall, at about 16:45 GMT on Thursday.

Saltash Cricket Club chairman Shayn Rencher said a fundraiser had been set up for the club.

He said he was "very grateful" for donations.

Saltash Cricket Club Two firefighters are stood outside of the container as they try to tackle the flames. Smoke is coming out of the container. The firefighters are wearing fire safety gear and yellow helmets. They are using a hosepipe to put flames out.Saltash Cricket Club
The club's chairman said most of the equipment was stored in the container

Mr Rencher said the fire broke out in the club's 20ft (6m) shipping container.

"Most of our stuff was in there waiting for the summer," he said.

"We do have an insurance but we are just trying to categorise what is covered and what's not."

'Doubled our numbers'

The chairman said the club was going to have to try and replace the items which had "accumulated" over the years.

"We're a very small club in the grand scheme of things, but we've grown quite a lot over the last seven or eight years," he said.

"We've doubled our numbers, gained more equipment and taken over the management of the ground ourselves from the council."

Police have asked anybody with information to get in touch.

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