THE CAUSE of the fire which destroyed the new clubhouse at Horley Lawn Tennis Club is being investigated as arson, according to a Surrey Fire and Rescue officer.
Fire investigator Bryn Strudwick said Surrey Police were now investigating the incident, which caused smoke to pour into nearby homes as flames ripped through the £250,000 clubhouse at.
The building, the result of four years of fundraising and a £50,000 donation of Olympic money from Sport England, was wrecked by the blaze which gutted the interior and brought down the roof.
Work on the wooden structure had not finished and it contained just rolls of roof insulation when it caught light in the early hours of Sunday morning. Fire crews from Reigate and Horley battled for almost five hours to bring the flames under control at the Vicarage Lane site.
But club members, who worked hard to raise the cash for the building, vowed the setback will not stop them. Chairman Pam Akehurst said: "We are all absolutely devastated."
She added: "After four years of hard work and fundraising what can we say? We did it once and we will do it again. We will get a new clubhouse, we will get there.
"We will be down there playing this weekend as normal; we have the tent and we have managed without a clubhouse for the last six weeks while the new one was being built.
"There is no reason whatsoever for us to stop playing unless firefighters tell us there is a safety concern."
Neighbouring residents told how the smell of smoke poured through open windows as the fire took hold.
One resident said: "I had got up at 3am for a drink and was standing looking out of the window when I saw a bloke walk past, I thought he was up early then I saw a few others. That's when I saw the blue lights and smelled the smoke and realised they were going to see what was going on.
"It is such a shame, it wasn't until this morning that I went and had a look and saw the damage. You could just smell burned wood everywhere."
Another man, who lives opposite, told how the stench of burning wood - which still lingered in the area throughout Sunday - came through his bedroom window.
The new-build followed a series of break-ins at the old clubhouse which left it unfit for purpose.
