Thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to a huge storeshed and its contents by a blaze at Chelmsford's Marconi Sports and Athletic Club in Beehive Lane early last Friday.

The wooden building, next to the tennis courts and a distance from the club's main buildings, contained groundsmen's tractors, power mowers and other equipment.

Firefighters from Chelmsford fought against a strong breeze for more than an hour to bring the blaze under control, but the building was wrecked.

Club secretary, Eileen Geer, said it was too early to estimate the damage caused by the blaze. Firefighters are uncertain of the cause.

The hut was the control centre for all the sports field lighting, but it is not clear whether the trip mechanism switched out because of a fault, causing the blaze, or because of the fire itself, say firefighters.

A spokesman for Essex fire and rescue headquarters said the incident had been reported to police as of doubtful origin and it could be a couple of weeks before a cause was likely to be known.

Jon French, of builders J. W. Steele, attempts to salvage some of the shed contents.

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