Boy, 13, arrested in £1m arson probe

Detective Constable Ben Ridgway said on Monday that the youth was arrested late last week and has been bailed pending further inquiries.

The fire late on Sunday, April 22, destroyed thousands of wheelie bins and recycling boxes awaiting distribution to Rother's 40,000 households.

It also destroyed two articulated lorries being used in the distribution and gutted the adjoining headquarters of the 9th Bexhill Scout Group.

Contractors this week have been using a mechanical digger to remove a large ara of melted plastic from the Wainwright Road car park.

When melted plastic from the bins cooled it formed a solid slab a foot thick stretching over part of the car park.

Police and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service began an immediate arson investigation after the blaze.

Rother is investing 20m in its waste recycling initiative in order to meet Government targets.

Work had already begun on distributing the bins, starting at the eastern part of the 200 square mile district.

In a statement after the fire, Rother chief executive Derek Stevens said it was hoped that loss of the bins and boxes would not put the recycling programme back more than about two weeks.

Households are being issued with a 180-litre capacity black wheelie bin for household waste, a 180-litre green wheelie bin for compostable garden waste and a box for bottles, cans and plastic for recycling.

This is in addition to the boxes already issued to households for recycling newsprint.

Under the new system, household rubbish and recyclables and garden rubbish will be collected on alternate weeks.

Rother has paid to have each wheelie bin fitted with a microchip in order to keep track of the bins.