Police are appealing for witnesses following a fire at Carden Primary School in Brighton. Emergency services were called to County Oak Avenue around 7.20pm on Monday (August 7) to reports of a fire in the grounds of the school. No injuries have been reported.
Officers are now working with the fire service to investigate the cause of the fire, but it is believed to have been started deliberately. Two teenage boys, aged 13 and 15, have been arrested on suspicion of arson and have been taken into custody.
A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “A lot of people are thought to have been in the area at the time and we are keen to speak to anyone who saw what happened, or who witnessed any suspicious behaviour in the vicinity before or after the fire started. We would particularly like to speak to anyone who may have captured any relevant CCTV, doorbell, or dash cam footage from the surrounding roads.”
Carden Primary School holds a interesting place in British history. It was the first school to be completed in the post-war period. The foundation stone was laid by Alderman Morris, then Mayor of Brighton, on 22 October 1947 and the first children attended on 3 September 1948. The school was built on a natural west-facing slope and was constructed in a revolutionary design using pre-cast concrete.
One of the reasons Carden has some of the most spacious classrooms that open directly onto patios is because the school was likely originally designed to be used as a hospital in the event of further hostilities.
The according to the Brighton and Hove council website the school currently has around 400 pupils attending, between the ages of three and eleven.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police online or by calling 101 quoting serial 1271 of 07/08.
