Fire at allotments in East Sussex village: couple ‘angry, confused and frustrated’ as police investigate blaze that destroyed their sheds

Norah Bessant, 68, from Denton, said the fire, which was reported to be deliberate, broke out on Friday evening, May 17, at South Heighton allotments.

She said two of the sheds belonging to her and her partner Tim Cogden, 60, were burnt, while two sheds of another allotment holder were damaged.

She added that their allotments are ‘some distance apart from each other’.

Norah, who has had allotments for about 14 years, said: “Gardening is something you do for the future. You do something to see something grow or flourish and it’s pretty upsetting to think ‘why?’ Why would anybody just destroy that and make it much more difficult for us?”

She said she saw the ‘devastation’ in the morning, adding: “I was a bit choked up to say the least.”

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East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said they were called at 10.35pm on Saturday, May 17, to ‘reports of a fire at an allotment on Beddingham Road, South Heighton’. The fire service said: “Firefighters from Newhaven and Seaford were in attendance and used two hosereel jets to extinguish the fire. There were no reports of any casualties and the fire was reported to be deliberate.”

Norah said she spoke to police, who are now involved, and said the tenants wish to thank the police and fire service for their support.

Sussex Police confirmed they are investigating this incident and urged anyone with information to come forward.

Norah said she and Tim lost tools and equipment in the fire too.

She said: “We’re very lucky to have an allotment. It is something Tim and I enjoy doing together and over all these years we’ve got the soil rich. We feed it and we really enjoyed producing a lot of produce, which is very low carbon footprint, and we share it with friends and relatives.”

She said: “It’s a very useful thing to be able to be doing and we enjoy doing it. Losing your tools make it really quite difficult and it makes you feel quite threatened.”

Glynde Estates, who run the South Heighton allotments, have been approached for comment, which will be added to this story when it comes in.