Men admit Burnley £400,000 arson attack (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Men admit Burnley £400,000 arson attack

8:58am Monday 29th October 2012 in News By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

GUILTY pleas have been entered over a £400,000 arson attack which devastated a parade in the centre of Burnley.

Traders were left counting the cost for weeks after several shops and empty flats at the corner of Temple Street and Plumbe Street were torched last March.

And now two Burnley men have appeared before the town’s crown court to admit to their roles in the blaze.

Reece Austin Renton, 20, of Pine Street, Burnley, and Jack Bradbury, 18, a Burnley man of no fixed address, have admitted arson reckless as to whether the property would be destroyed or life would be endangered.

The pair were each remanded in custody for pre-sentence reports and will be dealt with at the same court on December 17.

The court heard that the property, referred to in court as 20-22 Plumbe Street, belonged to three men, Saeed Rehman, Kabbir Muhammed and Zahid Khan.

Mr Rehman ran Sky Bird Lettings, one of the properties affected along with Delicious Pizzas and Union Cabs.

The nearby dry cleaners was also evacuated as the blaze threatened to spread along the corner terrace.

More than 20 fire-fighters tackled the fire, using a turntable ladder platform on the three-storey property at one point.

The flames could be seen as far away as Sabden, Accrington and Nelson.

Several of the traders expressed their anger as it took a number of weeks before the main road was reopened to traffic, but fears remained about the structural integrity of the building for some time afterwards.