Heartbreak as sheds burned to the ground

Members of the the Community Centre Garden at Wharton & Cleggs Lane Church, Little Hulton, arrived at the site on Tuesday morning to find one of two sheds completely destroyed, with another shed and a plastic greenhouse damaged beyond repair.

The first building had been burned down in what appears to have been an arson attack which also destroyed nearly all of the group's gardening and groundwork supplies.

Community Centre Manager Christine Thiao was called by a member from the group who had spotted firefighters battling the blaze on Monday night.

She says she broke down in tears after seeing the full extent of the destruction the following morning.

"Our lads have put so many hours and so much effort into this and it's now in a pile of dust of the floor," she said.

"It's not just like a garden shed. Most of our members come from the mental health unit and some of them have tried to commit suicide in the past.

"Many of their items - their gloves and boots - were destroyed in the fire and they're worried about it. For a lot of our gardeners this is the only reason they get out of bed in the morning."

The gardens, which won a community award last year, were mainly funded by a £10,000 lottery grant. But, Ms Thiao thinks repairing the damage caused to the two sheds and the "poly-tunnel" greenhouse could cost as much as £15-£20,000 which she hopes could be covered by insurance.

However, despite the heavy damage, the team are determined to fight back and rebuild their garden as soon as they can.

Ms Thiao added: "They are so disappointed, when they saw it they said they were sad, upset and angry.

"That's fine for a while but on Thursday we are going to crack on.

"We're going to get things done and not let this beat us."