Fire destroys seafront arcade

Fire destroys seafront arcade

The fire spread from the arcade to adjoining buildings

A huge fire has swept through two amusement arcades on Margate seafront.

Firefighters were called to the incident at Mr G's amusement arcade, in Marine Terrace, at 0644 BST on Friday.

Nobody was hurt in the fire, but the arcade building was destroyed.

The flames spread to another amusement arcade next door and other neighbouring buildings.

The fire is being seen as a major blow for the resort as the summer season approaches.

'It's completely gone'

The fire was on a busy seafront road, less than 50 yards from Margate's Dreamland theme park.

The four-storey building, in an Edwardian terrace, collapsed within an hour of firefighters being called out.

A gaping hole now stands in the terrace, where the destroyed building previously stood.

Radio Kent reporter Graham Cooke, who was at the scene, said: "It's completely gone - all there is is a pile of smouldering debris which used to be an amusement arcade."

It's a tragedy for Margate and it's very unfortunate that it's happened in the weeks leading to the opening of the tourist season

Richard Samuel, Thanet District Council

Kent Fire Brigade sent about 120 firefighters to tackle the flames.

Homes near the seafront were evacuated and roads around the scene closed off while the fire was dealt with, bringing much of the town to a standstill.

'Shattered and devastated'

A crowd of people gathered on the beach to watch the fire, many saying how sad they were to see the damage to the town's seafront.

The arcade manager Barry Moss said the building had been locked up as usual at 2200 BST on Thursday after a normal day's business.

He said: "We are shattered, devastated.

"It's obviously going to affect us and the seafront for Easter, being just a few days away, and we were obviously getting ready for the summer season.

"Yes, we are devastated."

The chief executive of Thanet District Council, Richard Samuel, said: "It's a tragedy for Margate and it's very unfortunate that it's happened in the weeks leading to the opening of the tourist season.

As many as 120 firefighters tackled the fire at its peak

"But Thanet has plenty of other things to offer to visitors to the area and I think the impact will be local.

"But we will do everything we can to help."

Fire investigators have begun the process of trying to establish how the fire began.

Paul Lukehurst from Kent Fire Brigade said: "It really is too early to come up with any conclusions.

"On Saturday we will get a hydraulic platform in and look at the building from above because obviously the building has collapsed."

He said the process of working out how the fire started could be hampered by the fact a large part of the building was gone.

He said firefighters would be at the scene throughout the weekend before the clean-up process was passed onto the local authorities.