ARSONISTS have been blamed for causing hundreds of pounds' damage when they set fire to deckchairs stacked on Worthing Pier.

Fire crews called to the blaze at about 12.45am stayed at the scene for nearly an hour to make the area safe.

Part of a partition the chairs were leaning against and wooden decking were also damaged.

John Thorpe, the council's assistant director of commercial services, said: "We are still trying to find out exactly what happened.

"We do not usually have problems like this although there have been occasional fire incidents involving the beach huts.

"We are lucky the fire was seen early as it could have caused a lot more damage."

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