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Officers investigate suspected arson attacks at Acorn Shipyard, Gas House Road, Rochester

Officers are investigating after a shipyard was damaged in three suspected arson attacks.

Firefighters tackled a blaze in Acorn Shipyard in Gas House Road, Rochester, just before 5am yesterday morning.

A small building was well alight when firefighters arrived. Crews left the scene at 6.30am. The fire is believed to have been started deliberately.

Firefighters at Acorn Shipyard on Tuesday morning. Pic: Keith Thompson
Firefighters at Acorn Shipyard on Tuesday morning. Pic: Keith Thompson

Crews were also called to the shipyard on Sunday afternoon, at around 4.15pm, after a derelict workshop caught light. The building was destroyed in the blaze.

It has not been confirmed if this blaze is being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters were called to the shipyard again on Tuesday evening, just before 8pm, after a portable cabin caught alight. It was destroyed in the blaze. Police were informed of the incident.

Earlier this month a teenager, arrested on suspicion of arson after a spate of fires at the shipyard last year, was bailed for the fourth time.

The 19-year-old, from Rochester, was held after a blaze destroyed the interior of a 40ft barge.

On September 4, plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing from one of the workshops and a cylinder detonated, causing an explosion.

Thirty firefighters tackled a blaze in a warehouse on October 26 and on November 13 a barge moored at the yard caught fire.

The teenager has now been bailed until Wednesday, July 12.

A police spokesman confirmed officers are investigating the latest fires.

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