Arson attack on caravan at rail society base

Officials at Oswestry’s Cambrian Railway Society fear an arsonist who attacked their property twice before may have been responsible for a fire early today.

The blaze destroyed a caravan in the society’s Oswald Road base.

The fire service and the police are treating the blaze as suspicious.

Two crews from Oswestry attended the blaze just after 12.30am, putting it out in a matter of minutes.

Nobody was injured but the caravan was destroyed.

A fire service spokesman said the fire was of doubtful origin and the details had been passed on to the police.The Cambrian Railway Society’s treasurer Paul Mottram said today the caravan window was broken by a vandal on Saturday night.

He said the latest incident was a major concern because the society’s museum was attacked by an arsonist in January last year.

The doors to the museum were forced and internal fittings were set on fire. Some historic museum pieces were lost. A few months earlier, two heritage train carriages were gutted in a fire that caused damage of about £16,000.

Mr Mottram said: “It is a big worry because you can’t secure the yard 100 per cent. People can get in and cause damage. Hopefully whoever is doing this will be caught.

“Fortunately nobody has been hurt and we are waiting to hear from the police today. It could have been a lot worse because I think there may have been gas canisters in the caravan.”

A society member occasionally slept in the caravan but it was empty last night.

Police spokeswoman Maria Hawkaluk said the force and the fire service were investigating the fire. Anyone with information is asked to call 08457 444888.