A REIGATE sports club has vowed to fight on, despite the second fire to destroy their pavilion in 14 years.
The Churchfields Bowls Club pavilion, tucked away off Chart Lane, is the subject of an arson investigation after it was burned to the ground. Police are linking the fire to two others at Horley Lawn Tennis Club last Sunday (June 22) and Old Reigatian Rugby Football Club on Saturday.
But the bowls club's 60 members are determined to carry on playing.
Jane Elwood, ladies secretary, said: "We're going to fight for the club.
"We don't want anybody to get the idea we have closed."
At about 2.30am last Thursday (June 26), police officer David Masters, 26, had just finished a 14-hour shift and parked outside his Bell Street home when he saw the sky "glowing orange" in the distance.
He alerted the fire brigade and met a crew from Reigate station at the club where the blaze was "raging".
"It was round the back of a school; I looked over the fence and saw the whole building was engulfed in flames," he said.
"I jumped over the fence and checked no one was down there and no one was hurt.
"The fire brigade were there in minutes.
"There was a couple of cracking and popping noises, but the main thing was the intensity of the smoke. The fire was raging, you couldn't get 20 feet near it."
Firefighters battled the flames for about five hours until a crew from Epsom took over.
Mrs Elwood was called by a fireman at 7am.
She said: "I was devastated. Unfortunately it's after the beginning of this season, so our shoes and woods were in the lockers. The last fire was before the start of the season, which was bad enough, but this time it's worse and we're all 14 years older.
"We're having to cancel this week's matches.
"We can get to the away ones and arrange our home games at different clubs."
She added: "It's a lovely place here, it's so quiet.
"It's a lifeline for some people. It's a little community itself, all looking after each other.
"One member has been playing for 20 odd years. I've been playing for 15 years, I'm one of the youngsters."
The pavilion is owned by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council which has not commented on the fire.
