MINDLESS vandals destroyed a church hall, leaving an art club without a home.

Sutton Church Hall has been destroyed by a fire that ripped through its roof overnight on Friday.

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Damage - the inside of the hall

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Destroyed - the hall had been the home of Southend Art Club, who have been hosting workshops and exhibitions there for around a year.

Pictures from the scene in Sutton Road, Rochford, show the devastation, with the roof completely caved in and ash and rubble covering most of the room.

The hall had been the home of Southend Art Club, who have been hosting workshops and exhibitions there for around a year.

Thankfully, only a few paintings were damaged, and the more historic ones escaped serious harm.

Rose Hofman, a member of the club, said the photos deserved to be shared so that people can see “the devastation caused by mindless vandals can be seen”.

She said: “We’re quite shocked actually. We have a caretaker whose been painting the outside of the building and someone has done this.

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“He managed to move equipment that was in a separate lock up. They didn’t break into that.

“You could see that the window was broken and the back door where they had tried to get in but they did not get through.

“I do not know how they caused the fire if they did not get into the building.

“We had some tables and chairs, and some paintings in the room, but many of the other most valuable paintings were not affected.

“The problem is, now we have to find a new place to hold painting workshops.

“For all we know there could be a group of people out there going around causing fires.”

A spokesman for Essex Fire Service said the cause could be either accidental or deliberate. He said: “On arrival, crews reported that a church, measuring 20 metres by ten metres, was 50 per cent alight and the fire had spread to the roof.

“Crews worked to extinguish the fire by 12.58am and made the scene safe.

“The roof has suffered extensive fire damage and the rest of the building has suffered some smoke damage.

“The cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental or deliberate.”

Southend Art Club will still be going ahead with their 2020 exhibition at the Leigh Road Baptist Church from April 17 to 19.