New appeal over blaze at pavilion

THE culprits behind a fire that destroyed a Dundee community pavilion have still not been found, more than a month after the incident.

Police, who believe youths were responsible for burning down the Mill o’ Mains building, have issued another appeal for information.

Officers are carrying out door-to-door inquiries and will continue to have a presence in the area.

Meanwhile, a JustGiving page has been set up by the Mill o’ Mains community to raise £750 towards replacing some of the resources that were within the building.

Jamie Webster, community sergeant at Longhaugh Police Station, said: “It is now more than a month since the fire, which happened on July 23 at 8pm.

“Our appeal is to the community of Mill o’ Mains and Claverhouse, and in particular the youths in these communities, where we feel the answer to what happened lies.

“There have been a number of youths seen i n t he area where t he fire happened.

“We are carrying out inquiries, including door-to-door.

“There will be a police presence in the area and visits to local schools.”

The loss of the pavilion was said to have “devastated” the community, who had been using it as a hub for children and elderly people’s activities, a foodbank and various classes.

Sgt Webster said an investigation into exactly how the fire was started is still ongoing.

Residents living in the area had previously complained of antisocial behaviour and fire-raising, claiming police had done little about those issues.

Sgt Webster said the police regularly carry out work with youths in the community, including talks on fire safety at schools.

He added: “Despite this, if youths are intent on going out and setting fire to something, then that is difficult to prevent.

“There are a number of measures we can take if it does turn out that youths were responsible for this fire.”

The fire-ravaged pavilion