Victoria Street rubbish fire 'set deliberately'

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue say they believe that a fire this morning (January 24) was started deliberately.
The scene of a rubbish fire in an alleyway.The scene of a rubbish fire in an alleyway.
The scene of a rubbish fire in an alleyway.

One crew from Mansfield were called at 5.20am this morning to attend the scene of a rubbish fire in an alleyway.

A spokesman for Notts Fire and Rescue said: "One hose reel was used to extinguish the fire. Firefighters had left the scene by 5.37am.

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"No one was injured but there was approximately 6-10 square metres of fire damage.

The alleywayThe alleyway
The alleyway

"The fire is believed to have been set deliberately."

A resident of Moor Street near the scene of the fire said: "I was asleep and my son was just leaving for work, and he shouted that the alley was on fire.

"I saw smoke billowing so I called 999.

"We've had lots of trouble round here and nothing is being done about it.

Janice and Michael Melbourne who are supported by fellow Victoria Street resident, Glenn Booth, right, and George Jabbour, left, the Conservative Mayoral candidate.Janice and Michael Melbourne who are supported by fellow Victoria Street resident, Glenn Booth, right, and George Jabbour, left, the Conservative Mayoral candidate.
Janice and Michael Melbourne who are supported by fellow Victoria Street resident, Glenn Booth, right, and George Jabbour, left, the Conservative Mayoral candidate.

"My car window was put through, I've had CCTV installed and my security gate was broken."

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Janice Melbourne, aged 75, has lived on Victoria Street for more than 30 years.

Janice was woken up this morning by the sound of the fire, which she said sounded like an engine running.

She added: "I was in bed and I heard a noise that sounded like an engine running.

"I saw flashing lights which was the fire brigade putting the fire out.

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"I said to my husband Michael that we had better get dressed in case we had to leave.

"It makes me feel unsafe, I don't know what's going to happen next.

"I hope it stops and the council shifts the rubbish now, it's horrendous."

Residents have previously said how angry they feel over fly-tipping in the alleyway, after Mansfield District Council told them they must foot the bill to clear the mess.

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Anger over fly-tipping on problem Mansfield street - and a 75-year-old woman cou...
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“Collectively they have a duty to remove this rubbish and maintain the alley.

“If they do not, the council could issue an enforcement notice requiring them to do so and, ultimately, if nothing is done, we could remove the rubbish and charge each household or property owner a proportion of the cost of doing so.

“In addition, because of the persistent nature of this problem in Victoria Street and Moor Street, under fairly new anti-social behaviour laws, the council can issue fixed penalties notices to try to deal with the issue.

“This is not something we would want to do and it would be a last resort to try to prevent this problem occurring again.

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“We are looking into the possibility of having CCTV installed to try to deter fly-tippers and we can increase patrols by our Neighbourhood Wardens but ultimately the people who live in these streets and use this alley need to find a way of coming together to deal with it collectively.

“We will do what we can to facilitate that happening.”

Mrs Melbourne said: “How come we have to trace who is doing it? How can they say it is us living on the streets, if they don’t know who it is? “Whoever is doing it will do it again.”