THE organiser of Bromsgrove Rugby Club’s famous bonfire night has issued an appeal after the bonfire was set alight in the early hours of this morning (October 8).

Hereford and Worcester Fire Service were called just before 1:00am to a fire at the rugby club on Finstall Road.

Lee Ward, who has organised the bonfire night event for seven years said it will take around three weeks to build the bonfire back up to the size it was.

“The bonfire was two storeys tall and so far, has cost £800 to build,” said Lee.

“We will have to build it up again and there’s weeks of work that has gone in to it. Luckily it wasn’t set alight the day before.”

Lee has received an outpouring of support from the community offering pallets of wood to rebuild the bonfire.

“I have received over 300 messages on Facebook offering to help with supplying wood- people have really rallied around,” said Lee.

“It has taken me seven years to build this event up to what it is now and with other bonfire nights cancelled this year we are expecting the night to be really busy.

“We just want the night to be the best it can be for the community.

“We think the fire was started around 11:30 to midnight on October 7 so if any neighbouring houses have CCTV footage that could help us identify the culprits, we would be very grateful.

“We will be accepting more wood after Tuesday, October 12 as we have been swamped with messages already!”