AN IRREPLACEABLE collection of rare art has been ruined by a suspected arson attack on the day it was to be unveiled to the public.

The lifetime works of Chris and Gwen Lang were to go on display at the TAP Gallery, in North Road, Westcliff, today.

However, their son, Joe Lang, of The Crescent, Hadleigh, has now been left to pick over the remains of his late parents’ paintings and sculptures after a blaze in a van outside the building.

The fire, which staff at the gallery believe was started deliberately at about 4am, seared the side of the gallery’s wall and clogged its main exhibition hall with smoke.

Full story and pictures in Monday's Echo