A massive fire has destroyed a theatre and studio complex
in East Sussex.
The blaze ripped through the Phoenix Theatre and Studio building on North
Street in Lewes on Saturday evening. The fire service received 23 calls from members of the public who spotted the
blaze when it broke out at just after 18:00 GMT.
Mr Sunderland said artists had lost their "entire life's work" in the studios
upstairs.
"It's really heart-breaking for them," he said. "People were down here sobbing
their eyes out this morning "It's a big tragedy for the whole community."
The fire was brought under control at 21:15, but there has been enormous
damage to the building. Nobody was injured, a fire service spokesman said.
He added: "This particular incident had the potential of being quite
disastrous".
"Thankfully the occupiers identified the fire early and we managed to make an
intervention which, although there's significant damage to the building, we
stopped the fire from spreading to adjacent areas."
This is such a shame for the people and the town I hope some way the can rebuild it or replace it with a new building. What are your thoughts on this?