Children at a nursery will have no toys to play with when they return from their Christmas break after their games equipment went up in smoke.

A shed next door to the Scout hut in Hall Road, Rochford, is believed to have been deliberately set on fire. The blaze destroyed £5,000 of play equipment belonging to the Hall Road Kindergarten.

Supervisor Jan Osborne could not believe somebody could do such a thing deliberately.

She said: "I was out all day visiting family and when I got home later that night there was a message on my answer machine from the fire service saying there had been a fire at the nursery.

"By the time I got down there it was 11pm and all that was left was a smouldering mess.

"All the children's play equipment and toys have been completely destroyed.

"They are insured but I cannot do anything about it until after the holidays."

Mrs Osborne said the nursery, which recently received a glowing Ofsted report, will open as normal on January 10, but she is worried the 38 children will not have much equipment to use during their sessions.

She said: "I don't know what to do.

"If anybody has got anything like bikes or trikes that the nursery could use we would be most grateful."

The fire is believed to have started at around 6.45pm on Boxing Day.

Police are investigating the blaze as fire crews said it could be of doubtful origin.

Chief Insp Dave King of Rayleigh police said: "An investigation is taking place. It could be suspicious or it could be an electrical fault or something in the building."

If you can help the nursery with any toys call Jan on 01702 545870.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.