Midlothian after school club loses £10,000 of toys in deliberate fire

A Midlothian after school club has lost £10,000 worth of toys in a deliberate fire.

The blaze, which Police Scotland is treating as "suspicious", was started at the community centre at at Paradykes Primary School at around 8:20pm on Saturday (Sep 23) night.

The centre is used by Loanhead After School Club and a shed outside is used to store play equipment. It was worst affected with the entire contents, worth £10,000, destroyed in the fire.

Officers are now urging anyone who can assist with their enquiries to come forward.

Inspector John Dryden of Penicuik Police Station: “This was a deliberate act that has caused considerable damage to property and goods.

“Children who rely on this specialist equipment have now been deprived of these resources that a charity have worked hard to secure for their benefit.

“Thankfully no one was injured and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service were able to quickly extinguish the fire.

"We are appealing for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the Loanhead area during the evening on Saturday or, similarly, anyone with information that can help us identify the culprits to come forward."

Manager of the after school club, Alan Duffin says: "We had bikes, scooters, additional support needs equipment which kids with special needs use. Unfortunately we've lost everything.

"We have tried to explain to the children but for them it's a huge disappointment."