Police inquiry after town's bonfire lit too early

The bonfire at Sileby Town Cricket Club was supposed to be lit on 7 November

Police are looking into the cause of a fire - after a bonfire organised for a town's annual event was lit early.

The event was due to take place at Sileby Town Cricket Club on 7 November, but the pile of wood - which had been collected over two weeks - was set alight on Monday night.

Nigel Kinch, the club's chairperson, said it had not faced any previous problems in the past 15 years.

Leicestershire Police said it was informed about the blaze by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS), and added inquiries into the cause were ongoing.

Mr Kinch said he received a call about the fire at 19:30 GMT.

He added the bonfire was the "focal point" of the annual event which saw up to 3,000 attend annually.

"It's part of the community and people look forward to it every year," he said.

'It won't deter us'

The club had recently stopped accepting donations of wood for the bonfire but said it would now have to start from "square one".

"We probably need in excess of about 150 to 200 pallets," Mr Kinch said.

Since the fire, the club said it had received numerous messages from people offering their help and support.

"[The fire] won't deter us but there's not a great deal we can do about it," he said.

He said he believed someone could have lit the fire for "a bit of fun at [the club's] expense".

The chairman said the event on 7 November - which acts as a fundraiser for the club and local causes - would still go ahead and hoped the club could have a new bonfire in place in time.

A police spokesperson added: "I can confirm we were contacted by LFRS around 20:10 yesterday [27 October] informing us of their attendance at a fire in Mill Lane.

"Inquiries are ongoing into the cause of the fire."