A much-loved beauty spot has been devastated by a fire for the second time in five weeks in another suspected arson attack.

The blaze which engulfed a viewing platform at Hambrook Marshes in Canterbury is believed to have started at about 3pm yesterday.

Crews were called to the scene just after 3.30pm, where they battled the flames for about 45 minutes.

A fire service spokesman says the exact cause of the blaze is not yet known - but members of charity Love Hambrook Marshes, which runs the site, believe it to be arson.

Trustee Michael Walter said: "The platform is totally destroyed.

"When I was leaving the marshes at about 1pm yesterday, I saw a small group of youngsters between 12 and 15 and one of them was carrying a small plastic petrol can.

"Subsequently we've heard from someone who walked past the platform between 2.30pm and 2.45pm, who saw a small group of young people on the platform."

It comes about a month after arsonists burned the majority of the marshes' boardwalk down and scorched a 100m-long stretch of grassland.

The footpath, made primarily of recycled plastic, cost £65,000 when it was installed in 2011.

A police spokesman said they have not received a report of the fire and that officers have "no outstanding lines of inquiry", but that any further information would be investigated.

Following yesterday's incident Mr Walter says he and his fellow trustees think there is "no point" in fitting a new boardwalk as it could be damaged again.

"It had a feeling of inevitability about it after what happened five weeks ago with the main boardwalk being wrecked because there's absolutely nothing we can do to stop them coming in whenever they want," he continued.

"The whole platform is either burned or melted - it's totally wrecked.

"During the last fire, the heat was so intense that everything went right down to ground level; whereas here the structure is still there, but it's melted and severely damaged."

The boardwalk had provided a popular route through the marshland, from which aquatic plants and wildlife could be spotted.

Love Hambrook Marshes trustee Sian Pettman says the charity is looking to replace it with a path that would zigzag through the field.

"This makes you think, 'What a waste of a precious facility'," she said. "Whoever is behind this has destroyed something that would cost up to £100,000 to replace - it's beyond belief.

"At this stage, we're looking for a replacement pathway - not a boardwalk - which doesn't have a structure that can be burned down."

A fundraising page was set up following the first fire to bankroll the removal of the charred remnants of the boardwalk and create a new route across the marshes.

To donate, click here.

To get the latest updates in ongoing cases, police appeals and criminals put behind bars, click here.

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