Three Holes village hall opens again after a fire.

NEARLY two years after Three Holes Village Hall was gutted by fire, arsonists struck again- but this time they caused only minor damage.

Three Holes village hall opens again after a fire.

Sue Lowe, acting chairman of the village hall committee, confirmed a second arson attack was made last Thursday.

“The fire was discovered by a committee member just after 1.30pm who immediately contacted the fire brigade,” she said.

“Three fire crews quickly attended the scene but discovered that fortunately, this time, damage to the hall was minor and only the stage was affected.”

Mrs Lowe said that although the bookings for the Thursday evening bowls and Friday auction had to be cancelled the only other event that has been cancelled at this point is the Valentine Dance planned for Saturday February 9.

“This has been postponed as a precaution until the stage structure has been professionally checked,” she said. “People having purchased tickets for the dance will be fully refunded. “

She added: “Thankfully a children’s party booked for last Saturday was able to go ahead and the committee are fairly confident that no further bookings will need to be cancelled and the regular events programme will continue as usual.”

Rita Cuss is the committee secretary and first used the hall when it first opened in 1952 and fund-raised towards its original opening when she was a teenager.

She said: “We are absolutely stunned, bewildered and angry that this has happened all over again but very relieved that we don’t need to close the building this time.”

Fire brigade investigators confirmed that the fire had been started deliberately and they and Norfolk Police are now dealing with the matter.

MP Elizabeth Truss praised the village’s community spirit when she reopened its hall in November 2011and also reassured people that new night-time police patrol teams would work hard to crack down on crime in rural areas.