Blaze wrecks town church
May 30 2002
By Duncan Gibbons
A Brownsover church was badly damaged by fire last night.
The roof of Kingdom Hall, in Bowfell, was damaged and smoke and water ruined much of the remainder of the building.
Jehovah's Witness minister Michael Pickard said: "It's not a total loss but it's quite bad. We won't be able to use the hall for several weeks.
"The roof trusses are badly burned and a structural engineer will need to have a look at the damage."
Two fire crews from Rugby spent three hours tackling the blaze after being alerted at 10.15pm by the church's automatic alarm.
A spokesman for Rugby fire station said investigators were due at the scene today.
Fellow minister John Barratt said: "We have suffered bouts of vandalism over the years so that would be my instinctive reaction.
"People have climbed up on the roof before and last year a couple of people tried to light a fire in the porch but there is always the chance it was an electrical fault."
Kingdom Hall is regularly used by members of two congregations who share the building.
Mr Barratt said: "We have meetings on Tuesday and Thursday nights and it's particularly busy all day Sunday."
Worshippers are now expected to have to travel to Lutterworth or Daventry while Kingdom Hall is repaired.