Arsonists target town centre play area

Apparent attempts to incinerate play equipment in a town centre park have been thwarted by quick-thinking officers from Selby Police.

The fire was found at around 11:40 on Sunday evening by officers conducting patrols in Scott Road Park. Thankfully still small at the time of discovery, officers were able to extinguish it before the flames were able to spread.

An amount of newspaper had seemingly been piled up on top of the wooden climbing frame before being set alight. Charred remains of the paper was still seen scattered across the park during Bank Holiday Monday.

Selby Town Council has confirmed to TheSelebian that they were aware of the incident and would be liaising with the Police. A spokesperson told us, "We understand youths set fire to newspaper on the climbing frame but didn’t succeed in lighting the area.

"They have caused a little charring on the climbing frame and we are dealing with this issue. Our caretaking team have cleaned the area and it is back up and running"

The weekend's fire marks the second second apparent act of arson to have blighted the area surrounding Selby Community Centre in recent months. Patrols were stepped up in the vicinity following a similar attack in March when a fire was set in an internal stair well at the Community Centre whilst an upstairs room was in use.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said, "Officers found a small fire at about 11.40pm on Sunday in the park at Scott Road, and managed to extinguish it themselves. This was thoughtless behaviour that could have had more serious consequences.

"Anyone with information about those responsible is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101."