Conifers behind a leisure park were set alight on purpose, fire officers believe.
Saffron Walden firefighters were called to 5 metres of coniferson fire behind Lord Butler Leisure Centre, in Peaslands Road, Saffron Walden, at 1.24pm today (thurs dec 1).
The fire had been put out by 1.50pm.
A fire chief has said a chimney fire which caused structural damage to a house was the worst he had seen.
The blaze happened at 10.10pm on Tuesday in Little Walden Road, Saffron Walden and has prompted a warning from firefighters about the dangers of burning oddments of wood and the need to keep chimney breasts swept.
Station Officer Paul Curtis, the incident commander, said the fire was the worst chimney blaze he had seen in 20 years’ service.
He said: “When we arrived at the scene there was a 4ft jet of flame coming from the chimney.
“This was a severe fire that caused a lot of damage to the property – walls in the loft and lounge cracked under the intense heat and the chimney breast itself came down.
“This was mainly caused by a huge build-up of carbon deposits that appeared to be along the whole length of the chimney.”
As people began lighting their fires again this year, Station Officer Curtis reminded families to ensure chimneys were swept regularly.
He also recommended that people stuck to burning seasoned wood and logs prepared for fires rather than oddments and waste, which could contain materials such as resins that might fuel a fire.
Conifers behind a leisure park were set alight on purpose, fire officers believe.
Saffron Walden firefighters were called to 5 metres of coniferson fire behind Lord Butler Leisure Centre, in Peaslands Road, Saffron Walden, at 1.24pm today (thurs dec 1).
The fire had been put out by 1.50pm.
Conifers behind a leisure park were set alight on purpose, fire officers believe.
Saffron Walden firefighters were called to 5 metres of coniferson fire behind Lord Butler Leisure Centre, in Peaslands Road, Saffron Walden, at 1.24pm today (thurs dec 1).
The fire had been put out by 1.50pm.
A fire chief has said a chimney fire which caused structural damage to a house was the worst he had seen.
The blaze happened at 10.10pm on Tuesday in Little Walden Road, Saffron Walden and has prompted a warning from firefighters about the dangers of burning oddments of wood and the need to keep chimney breasts swept.
Station Officer Paul Curtis, the incident commander, said the fire was the worst chimney blaze he had seen in 20 years’ service.
He said: “When we arrived at the scene there was a 4ft jet of flame coming from the chimney.
“This was a severe fire that caused a lot of damage to the property – walls in the loft and lounge cracked under the intense heat and the chimney breast itself came down.
“This was mainly caused by a huge build-up of carbon deposits that appeared to be along the whole length of the chimney.”
As people began lighting their fires again this year, Station Officer Curtis reminded families to ensure chimneys were swept regularly.
He also recommended that people stuck to burning seasoned wood and logs prepared for fires rather than oddments and waste, which could contain materials such as resins that might fuel a fire.
A fire chief has said a chimney fire which caused structural damage to a house was the worst he had seen.
The blaze happened at 10.10pm on Tuesday in Little Walden Road, Saffron Walden and has prompted a warning from firefighters about the dangers of burning oddments of wood and the need to keep chimney breasts swept.
Station Officer Paul Curtis, the incident commander, said the fire was the worst chimney blaze he had seen in 20 years’ service.
He said: “When we arrived at the scene there was a 4ft jet of flame coming from the chimney.
“This was a severe fire that caused a lot of damage to the property – walls in the loft and lounge cracked under the intense heat and the chimney breast itself came down.
“This was mainly caused by a huge build-up of carbon deposits that appeared to be along the whole length of the chimney.”
As people began lighting their fires again this year, Station Officer Curtis reminded families to ensure chimneys were swept regularly.
He also recommended that people stuck to burning seasoned wood and logs prepared for fires rather than oddments and waste, which could contain materials such as resins that might fuel a fire.
Thousands of children missed a day of school yesterday as all four state secondary schools and at least 10 primary schools in the Uttlesford area were closed by the national public sector strike.
John Hartley headteacher at County High, who did not go on strike yesterday over proposed changes to pensions, said: “We had a significant number of staff who took part in the industrial action.
“Although our school was closed for Years 7 to 11 it was open for sixth formers.
“A large number of sixth formers came in and the staff who were not participating carried out their usual sixth form lessons and many students made good use of the facilities for private study.”
Study facilities were also open to sixth form pupils at Newport Free Grammar School.
At Stansted Airport it was business as usual as no queues were reported yesterday afternoon and all flights operated without delays, said a spokesman.
Essex police said fewer than 5 per cent of support staff, including PCSOs, took part in the industrial action and it worked with partner agencies to ensure minimum disruption.
One quarter of Essex County Council employees are union members and the authority said it took provisions to ensure the most vulnerable customers were not put at risk.
Drivers beeped their horns in support of Unison members outside the Uttlesford District Council offices in London Road.
About 20 per cent of the council’s 332 employees went on strike.
District council services were operating although residents were asked to not phone or visit unless it was urgent.
A council spokesman said all recycling lorries went out but only one out of five kitchen waste lorries was out.
Any brown bins not collected should be put out next week, the council said.
Saffron Walden Musuem, the town library, environmental health, pest control and benefits office, along with other services, were all operating normally.
Val Rogacs, secretary for the Uttlesford branch of Unison, said: “We’ve got to try and persuade the Government they’re on the wrong course. They expect us to pay more, work longer and get less at the end of it.
“They’re charging an extra tax on the low-paid public sector workers. Is that fair? Because we don’t think so.
“It’s frustrating when people don’t take part. We’re going to lose a day’s pay, times are hard and it’s coming up to Christmas, but I think it’s worth it.”
Members, who also formed a picket line at the council’s refuge depot in Dunmow, attended a rally in Chelmsford with other unions.
Opening hours at Saffron Walden town centre police station have been cut – and a village station has closed to the public completely.
But the savings made from shutting the front counter at Stansted and reducing the opening hours at Saffron Walden will not affect Essex police’s ability to fight crime, senior officers have said.
The new changes were enforced on Monday as part of an Essex-wide cost-cutting scheme to meet the force’s savings target of £41 million by 2014.
The move is a prelude to a new policing model, which Essex police hopes to roll out from March.
The constabulary has promised “innovative ways of meeting the public”, including mobile police stations, beat surgeries and temporary bases in the community in conjunction with local authorities.
In Stansted, the parish council offices at Crafton Green have been proposed as a possible venue.
Deputy Chief Constable Derek Benson said he was confident residents would still be safe from crooks and the changes represented a more effective use of resources.
Stansted was among 20 Essex stations to lose their counters, while 16 front desks, including Saffron Walden’s East Street station, will have their hours cut from 112 a week to just 36.
Only nine “core” stations will keep the old opening times of 8am until midnight, seven days a week. None are in Uttlesford and the nearest are Harlow, Braintree and Chelmsford.
All the buildings will continue to be used as normal by officers.
Deputy Chief Constable Benson said: “Some of our front counters are open at times of very little demand.
“The changes will allow staff to be relocated to support other areas of Essex police where there is significant operational demand . . . [and] means police officers are not removed from their operational role to perform front counter duties.
“Essex police is a 24-hour service and officers will continue to be accessible around the clock, every day of the year, to members of the public.”
Earlier this year, the force said it would increase the number of neighbourhood officers from 472 to 527 – a rise of 12 per cent – as part of the policing model. It also carried out a public survey which found 94 per cent of residents would prefer to report a crime by phone.
A long-awaited planning application has been submitted for a new health centre in Stansted.
Clavering-based developers Pelham Structures submitted the blueprints for the Lower Street clinic last week after a year of delays.
The firm has worked on the project with the primary care trust NHS West Essex for about three years. The plan was due to be submitted earlier this month but hit one final snag when Pelham postponed it for minor changes.
A statement from Pelham, NHS West Essex and Stansted Parish Council said the scheme has been designed around the medical centre.
It said: “The building proposes a mixed-use content, consisting of retail at ground floor level, housing the medical centre at first floor and part second floor with the remaining content being residential apartments, all with dedicated access arrangements.”
Cllr Alan Dean, who lives in Stansted, said the centre is long overdue.
He said: “I am looking forward to seeing the details and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be approvable and deliverable by the NHS in 2013.”
Bill Bampton, of Pelham Structures, said: “Following further in-depth highways technical studies, the road junction has been redesigned to improve both traffic and pedestrian safety.
“We are very pleased with the development and the support and assistance of UDC, the PCT and the parish council shown from the outset.”
Owing to the growing population in Stansted the current facilities in St John’s Road cannot cope and a new clinic has been on the cards for many years.
The four-storey complex will also be home to new outpatient services, which currently require patients to visit a Bishop’s Stortford community hospital.
Cash has been stolen from two tills in town centre shops.
Health and Beauty salon Esprit, in Market Hill, Saffron Walden, and Toy Box, in the town’s Market Row, were both targeted at around 4.30pm on Thursday by thieves who distracted members of staff by asking them to look for products off the shop floor.
Cash was then stolen from the tills at both shops; £180 in £20 notes was taken from Esprit and £120 from Toy Box.
The description of a white man, about 5ft 5in with fair cropped hair was given for the suspect at Toy Box.