ARSONISTS have been blamed for a fire that destroyed a church hall.

More than 20 firefighters tackled the blaze which reduced the building next to St Peter's Church, in Fishersgate, to a blackened shell.

Crews from Hove and Shoreham said the fire was so intense all the windows blew out as flames ripped through the building in Gardner Road at 5.10pm.

The roof of the six by 15 metre hall also collapsed as the fire worsened. But the church next door was unaffected.

Firefighters said the severity of the blaze was exacerbated by piles of clothes and books which were being stored in the hall.

Investigators said today they believe the fire was caused by youngsters playing with matches.

Rob Mapley, sub-officer at Shoreham Fire Station, said: "This was a severe fire. The hall was well alight by the time we got there and it was breaking out of the windows.

"We called for back-up because of the severity of it all. The church was okay but the hall is just gutted.

"We tried to fight the fire from the inside but because of the state of the roof we did it from the outside.

"They will be able to rebuild the hall but the roof has totally gone. It is just a shell."

Firefighters spent 30 minutes tackling the fire and returned later to check there were no secondary blazes.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.