8:58am Wednesday 27th January 2010
By Community Correspondent Lucy F. J. Pope.
Five fire engines and around twenty five fire fighters were called to St. Mark’s Church Hall, Teddington at 5:30 in the morning on the 17th of January to find it ablaze. First turning the hoses on to Sacred Heart Primary School, the fire was under control by 8:30. No one was injured. The damage to the premises is awful, with the roof and left wall completely gone, the right wall fallen in and the back wall destroyed; only the front entrance is left standing. A local resident in King Edwards Road, Teddington said that the smoke was visible from their home.
Built in 1908 and over one hundred years old, the hall was an asset for the town, with dance lessons, play groups and scout and other community groups taking place in the buildings on a regular basis. One group named ‘Come and Play’ had been running for over twenty years at the church hall, bringing support and joy to a growing number of mothers and their children. It is a huge loss for the area, and these groups will now have to arrange a new meeting place. The cause of the fire is “under investigation”.
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