A HOLIDAY park is set to increase its security patrols following a suspicious fire at a storage compound.

Firefighters were called to Beach Road, St Osyth, just after 10pm on Wednesday.

Crews reported that five caravans, which spanned an area of 80 sq metres, were completely ablaze and the area was filled with smoke.

The two crews from Clacton and another from Weeley overcame access issues at the site, which was blocked with discarded waste.

The blaze was put out by 11.20pm.

The fire came following another blaze that destroyed a massive stack of straw bales at nearby Cockett Wick Farm just before 1.15pm on Monday.

Four youths were reported to have been seen running from the farm, which saw cattle evacuated from a nearby barn.

The storage compound in Beach Road is owned by park holidays, which runs the nearby St Osyth Beach Holiday Park and Seawick Holiday Park.

Luke Bunyan, manager of the holiday parks, said: “We have had trouble with kids here for a while now.

“Youths were also seen running away from the scene on Wednesday night. The site is now going to be emptied.

“We have upped security and we had already put new fencing around the site.

“Since the incident on Wednesday night there will be additional patrols up here.”

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

The compound in Beach Road is used as a storage facility for old caravans which are due to be shipped to another site, but it has become a dumping ground for old refrigerators and mattresses.

It is understood that a number of the items at the site had been fly-tipped.

A joint police and fire investigation will take place into the cause of the blaze.