Arsonists fuel Community spirit

ARSONISTS who destroyed a Huntingdon pharmacy will not kill the spirit of the community, residents have insisted. After the blaze at the Acorn pharmacy in Oak Drive, Oxmoor, was extinguished on the morning of Sunday 10, a team of cleaners swung into actio

ARSONISTS who destroyed a Huntingdon pharmacy will not kill the spirit of the community, residents have insisted.

After the blaze at the Acorn pharmacy in Oak Drive, Oxmoor, was extinguished on the morning of Sunday 10, a team of cleaners swung into action to ensure most of the site, part of the Oak Tree Centre, was open for use on Monday morning.

David Bryant-Chesworth, of Essex Road, Huntingdon, was among the team of cleaners who gave up their Sunday to clean up the mess.

He said: "Some people will look at what these arsonists have done and think they have won but they did not achieve anything - we had the centre up and running again by Monday morning.

"Cleaners stayed their well into the night on Sunday and that shows that we are standing together as a community to get things done."

Cliff Reed, general manager of Peterborough Property Services, who were called in to help clean up the mess, said: "It was all hands on deck. No one we asked said no, and we even had two of our directors cleaning. There was soot everywhere. Everything was black.

"We worked together brilliantly with Mediclean. We used their machines and they used our staff. Everybody worked together so well that it was a pleasure to be able to help sort it out. We are proud of what we did."

INFORMATION: Anyone with information on the arson attack, which took place at about 11.15pm on Saturday, February 9, should contact Cambridgeshire police on 0845 4564564.