Newbury FC Faraday Road fire: Council 'warned' about disused arson-hit site

The destroyed ground was cordoned off on Monday

A council was warned about the risk posed by a disused football ground before it was destroyed, a group said.

Newbury Football Club's former Faraday Road ground, which has not been used since 2018, was burned down in a suspected arson attack on Saturday.

Newbury Community Football Group said it had been worried about the council-owned site being targeted by vandals.

West Berkshire Council said the damage was "very regrettable" but added it could not secure all of its sites.

Crews from Berkshire and Hampshire tackled the fire at the Faraday Road site

Newbury Community Football Group wants the ground to be used for football again.

Member Lee McDougall said the group had been worried about vandalism "for a long time".

"I personally wrote to every single West Berkshire councillor in June 2020 saying that the site was open, people could walk in, it was a risk to the public," he said.

"It sat fine for 50 years while people were in it. The council kicked the team out, left it empty, let it fall to rack and ruin and what everyone predicted happened."

The 2,500-capacity facility and pitch has not been used since the club and youth groups were evicted by West Berkshire Council ahead of potential redevelopment work.

A decision on whether to demolish the buildings and turn the area into recreational space was deferred at a council planning meeting last month.

Lee McDougall said Newbury Community Football Group had been worried about possible vandalism "for a long time"

There are plans for a new ground to be built near Newbury Rugby Club in Monks Lane.

Graham Bridgman, deputy leader of West Berkshire Council, said: "We cannot secure every site we own from everyone who might wish to do it damage.

"Unfortunately, and very regrettably, that's what's happened here."

He added: "The reason the site is empty is because West Berkshire [Council] is going through a process to redevelop this entire area for the good of the community, for the good of Newbury, to make it into a proper gateway into Newbury.

"That has been a long and protracted process."

Graham Bridgman, deputy leader of West Berkshire Council, said the arson was "very regrettable"