Members of a 155-year-old cricket club say they are determined a new clubhouse will rise from the ashes after their pavilion burned to the ground.

Hampton Hill Cricket Club’s (HHCC) clubhouse in Bushy Park was gutted after fire ripped through the building in the early hours of October 9, destroying irreplaceable memorabilia from the club’s past.

The remainder of the 55-year-old building was pulled down later that day for safety reasons.

But HHCC chairman David Mackinney said the club were determined to keep its memory alive as they begin to look at ways to raise the funds needed for a new clubhouse.

He said: “We’ve had a lot of support from the community and we want to send out a positive message.

“We’re confident we can build something there that will be the same sort of structure.

“People might not have played cricket there but it’s been a part of the community.”

Fundraising ideas have so far included charity Christmas cards and having a stall at the annual Christmas light parade in Hampton Hill, attended by more than 4,000 people, at the end of November.

Donations have already been made to an appeal set up by HHCC following the fire and Mr Mackinney said they would be looking into grants available.

Mr Mackinney said: “We’ll be looking at ways of raising money internally and externally with the community.

“We want to ask the members to not just raise funds but get them involved in the club - from the people who have been coming here 30 to 40 years but also we want to get the Colts and their parents involved.

“In a few months time we don’t want people to say ‘oh yeah there used to be something there’.”

Mr Mackinney admitted it would likely take 18 months for the new pavilion to be completed.

Members of the club were left devastated by the fire, which police believe was started intentionally after a pile of papers were found in the doorway of the club and firefighters discovered someone had forced entry into building.

Memorabilia including trophies, old scoreboards and pictures of past cricket teams dating back to the 1920s were all lost after the fire broke out in the clubhouse which had recently been refurbished.

A Twickenham police spokeswoman said investigations were still going on and police were looking at CCTV in the Hampton Hill area for information on who might have caused the fire.

To make a donation visit hamptonhill.play-cricket.com.