A "DELIBERATE" fire was set in a derelict factory in Southend this morning.
Firefighters from Southend station were alerted to the blaze, in Pleasant Road, by police officers at around 9am.
The building, the former Grosvenor rock factory, contained several old arcade machines but firefighters managed to extinguish the flames before it spread.
Station officer Lee Burling, said: "We were called to a fire in a storage shed at the back of the old rock factory in Pleasant Road.
"We were called by the police, who saw the smoke from the York Road area and went to investigate, to the derelict building that was full of old arcade machines.
"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building and put the fire out using hose reel jets.
"There was also a bin on fire within the area so it was suspicious and deliberate.
"There was not much damage to the building, when we got there it was starting to get going.
"There were people around, working in the buildings, but no-one had to be evacuated - police are now making inquiries."
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