Fire at empty former Moreton Hall Preparatory School in Bury St Edmunds treated as suspected arson

Police are treating a fire at an empty former school in Bury St Edmunds as a suspected arson - the second such incident in a fortnight.

Officers, firefighters and the ambulance service were alerted to the incident at the former Moreton Hall Preparatory School, in Mount Road, at about 10.49am.

A call was received after smoke was seen from a second floor window of the three-storey building.

As crews battled the fire, the nearby Moreton Hall Health Club was evacuated while Mount Road was closed at 11.20am and reopened at 12.45pm.

All persons were accounted for and there were no casualties.

Two fire engines from Bury St Edmunds, one from Mildenhall, one from Brandon, one from Ixworth and one from Elmswell as well as two appliances from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service - Thetford and Attleborough - attended the incident.

An aerial ladder platform from Ipswich East station was at the scene.

Crews used breathing equipment, two hose reel jets and a covering jet.

Witnesses or anybody with dash-cam or ring doorbell footage which may help the investigation are asked to contact Bury St Edmunds CID quoting CAD 130 of July 5.

It is the second suspected arson at the empty school after a fire on Friday, June 27.

The fire was on the first floor in the former school’s nursery building.

The building is Grade II*-listed and was built in 1773.

The school shut in June 2020 due to financial complications caused by the Covid pandemic.