Three men have been charged with arson after an investigation into a string of deliberate fires that caused £1.1 million of damage.
Between June and November 2021, there were eight arson attacks in various locations around Sussex but mainly focused between Eastbourne, Lewes and Seaford.
Barns, haybales, derelict buildings and a car were targeted in the near five month spate of fires.
Oliver Williams, 19, Joshua Brinkley, 19, and Connor Luck, 21, have all been charged with arson and are set to appear before Brighton Magistrates’ Court next Thursday.
Brinkley, of Southfield in Polegate, has been charged with seven counts of arson.
Luck, of Balls Green in Withyham, near Crowborough, has been charged with two counts of arson and Williams, of Porters Way in Polegate, has been charged with one count of arson.
At 10.27pm on Friday June 26, 2021, police were called by West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to a large fire at a derelict property in Broadwater Lane, Horsham.
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On Thursday July 8, at 3.39am, police were alerted by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to a large fire at a derelict property in Wivelsfield Green where eight fire engines were in attendance.
At 7.23am on Sunday August 29, police were contacted by East Sussex Fire and Rescue to a large deliberate fire at two outbuildings in Lower Willingdon that contained cylinders and farm machinery.
On Tuesday November 2, at 2.54am, police assisted East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service with a large fire in a barn on farmland off the A26 at Beddingham.
At 4.32am on Thursday November 4, police were called to assist East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service with road closures following a hay bale fire at a vineyard in Alfriston Road near Rathfinny, Alfriston.
On Saturday November 6, at 10.49pm, police attended two large barns on fire in Tarring Neville with smoke going into the A26.
At 4.04am on Sunday November 7, police were contacted by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to a report of a silver Vauxhall Corsa being on fire in Lewes Road, Ringmer.
And at 5.28am on the same day, police assisted the fire service with a road closure following a large fire involving haybales within a field in Litlington Road, Seaford.
Investigations into each of the fires were carried out by officers and the causes were confirmed as arson.
The estimated value of the total damage caused was £1,117,825.
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