FIREFIGHTERS were called to a fire at the alleyway at the rear of a large soft play centre in Basildon on Friday evening (28 April).

When fire crews arrived at the premises on Miles Gray Road they reported the fire was quickly developing and had spread inside the building.

Firefighters immediately got into the building and quickly got the fire surrounded.

Watch Manager Mark Blakebrough said: "Firefighters worked really hard to stop the fire from spreading to the rest of the building and the building next door.

"The soft play centre has suffered damage to the rear of the building and inside the rear stock and boiler rooms, but most of the building was thankfully unaffected.

"Outside, there was a pile of old sofas and furniture which looked like they were waiting to be disposed of. This is where we believe the fire was started.

"Police are investigating the possibility that this fire could have been started deliberately.

"I would urge anyone that knows how this fire started to report it to FireStoppers. FireStoppers is a completely independent charity that is 100% anonymous."