LEARNING about the tragic consequences of arson is on the timetable for schools across the county over the next three weeks as Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service teams up with the theatre company, StopWatch. On Monday, February 20, firefighters and th

LEARNING about the tragic consequences of arson is on the timetable for schools across the county over the next three weeks as Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service teams up with the theatre company, StopWatch.

On Monday, February 20, firefighters and the theatre group began a tour of 24 schools to deliver the play Arson About to year-eight students. Sawtry Village college and Ailwyn School, Ramsey were among the first to see the play in Huntingdonshire.

The play aims to deter arson attacks and is focused around an arson incident that bends in tragedy.

The production centred on a fictional situation between three friends: Ian (played by Dave Bignell), Stueey (Bradley Sansome) and Molly (Kirsty McLeod-Jones). At the end of the performance students were invited to take part in a lively workshop session which challenged them with the dilemmas faced by the characters in the play.

The project was co-ordinated and supported by the Cambridgeshire Arson Task Force which includes members of both the Fire and Rescue Service and Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

Neil Windsor, a police officer from Cambridgeshire Constabulary who is seconded to the Arson Task Force, working at Fire Headquarters in Huntingdon, said: "Over the past three years in Cambridgeshire there has been a steady drop in arson but the number of small deliberate fires, such as bin and refuse fires, has increased. Young people are often responsible for these types of fires, which are categorised as anti-social behaviour.