Police investigate boat fire

ARSON is suspected as the cause of a narrowboat fire at Longport on the Trent & Mersey Canal.

The narrowboat was reported on fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with fire crews managing to douse the fire, but it had completely burnt out the interior, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Boat sank

The heat of the fire was such that it distorted the metal to such a degree in the blaze that the boat sank. There was no one in the boat at the time.

The firefighters were over two hours at the scene of the fire, that was by the car park at Bradwell Works, just West of Longport Wharf, after workers at the works had contacted the emergency services,

Drifted

The fire burnt the ropes securing the boat that was moored off-side, so that it then drifted along the canal, and came to rest alongside another narrowboat that suffered fire damage.

The police are appealing for witnesses or anyone having seen any one behaving suspiciously in the area.

This is the third occurrence of a suspicious burning of a narrowboat left unattended this year.