Fire at nature nursery 'started deliberately'

The founder of an outdoor nursery has been left heartbroken after a fire "decimated" the children's area.

It happened at Little Wild Tribe's base at Hadleigh Country Park in Essex on Saturday evening.

Kelly Guthrie, who founded the nursery in 2019 which welcomes 35 toddlers a day, said the site had been "ferociously vandalised", adding that "the only people being punished by this are the children".

Essex fire service said crews managed to extinguish the flames by 20:00 BST, after receiving a call at 19:20. "The fire is believed to have been started deliberately," said a spokesperson.

Guthrie said when she first arrived, "it looked like the whole woodland was up in flames".

She said she had never seen such "mindless destruction" in her time running the site, explaining it was a place for "children to learn and love learning in the great outdoors".

She said the nursery had high fencing and was a private space, but still managed to be accessed by vandals.

The outdoor learning facilities and a seating area have suffered damage, but Guthrie said the site would remain open as there were other areas they could use.

The children have been tasked with making 'thank you' notes to the fire crews who helped save the rest of the nursery, and the animals on a nearby farm.

Guthrie said a social media call-out asking for people to come forward if they saw anything received a "phenomenal" response, with many offers of help to rebuild the site from across the country.

"This mindless criminal damage will not undo or diminish what this woodland means to our community. If anything, it reminds us why it's so important," she said.

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