Nottinghamshire Police appeal for witnesses after arson attack at old piano school in Newark

Police investigating an arson attack in Newark have appealed for further witnesses to come forward.

Emergency services — multiple fire crews, police and ambulance — were called to the old piano school off Appletongate after 7.30pm on Wednesday.

You can see the blaze, which has been confirmed by the fire service as arson, ripped through a fair amount of the roof of the building. No casualties were reported.

The specific cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officers are appealing for witnesses who may have seen anything suspicious.

Detective Inspector Nicholas Hall, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a large fire that led to the evacuation of several neighbouring properties.

“We are currently working with our colleagues at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to understand how this blaze started.

“We would therefore like to hear from anyone who was either in the area at the time, or who has additional information on what happened.”

Anyone with additional information is asked to call 101 quoting incident 703 of May 18.

Police cars were continuing to watch over the area this morning after the fire was extinguished late last night.

Some of those evacuated reported seeing a group of girls breaking into the building, which was, and may still be, owned by Lincoln College Group as part of Newark College.

From the scene of the fire, Newark white watch manager Carey Thomas said the blaze was obviously deliberate and that whoever started it wasn't to know there no one was inside.

"It was a derelict building well alight when we attended," he said on the evening of the incident.

"We fought the fire from both sides. We had to evacuate neighbouring properties.

"We've been unable to make major entry into the building because of the state of the floors, which may have been a result of the fire or could have been an existing issue because the building is derelict — possibly both.

"We're absolutely sure that there was no one inside.

"It's obviously deliberate. There's nothing in there to ignite otherwise.

"It could have been different. Derelict buildings provide shelter for homeless people. Whoever started it wasn't to know it was empty.

"They put lives at risk not just anyone who may have been inside, but also homeless and our firefighters.

"We had four crews tonight. The fire is out and we're now hotspotting to make sure there is no reignition."