3:10pm Monday 21st December 2009
By Julian Robinson
COMMUNITY groups have been left devastated after fire ripped through a Hampshire village hall.
The blaze broke out in the ground floor of the hall in Roe Down Road, Medstead, but soon spread causing extensive smoke damage and ruining part of the roof.
Scores of items collected over more than 30 years, including costumes owned by the village’s amateur dramatic group, were also wrecked.
The Medstead Players had only recently finished their pantomime production before much of their equipment went up in flames.
Around 20 firefighters from Alton, Alresford and Basingstoke tackled the blaze, which had broken out on the ground floor around an electrical intake unit.
They arrived at around 9.50am yesterday and spent about four hours damping down after the fire.
Belinda Gyford, chairman of Medstead Village Hall committee, was at the scene as firefighters attempted to bring the fire under control.
She told the Daily Echo that although the building was not completely destroyed, a number of “irreplaceable” items had been lost.
“I’m devastated – the smoke damage alone is horrendous,”
she added.
“We’ve all put a lot of time and effort into the hall and to see it so derelict is very sad indeed.
“It is a bleak situation, but we have all vowed to rise from the ashes.”
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