Calcot post box destroyed by fire

The post box and its contents were destroyed by the fire last night (Saturday) in a suspected arson attack

A POST box in Calcot and its contents were destroyed by fire last night (Saturday), after a suspected arson attack.

At around 9.30pm a crew of five firefighters were called from Dee Road fire station, Tilehurst, to tackle a fire in a post box in Charington Road.

Red Watch crew manager, Jack Wenn, said a fire extinguisher had to be pushed through the letter box to extinguish the fire.

"It was smoking," said Mr Wenn, who added that a group of youths had been seen in the area at the time.

Mr Wenn said the Royal Mail was informed but do not attend such incidents at evenings and weekends.

Firefighters were at the scene for half an hour and are treating the cause of the fire as suspicious.

They left the scene at 10pm and returned at 11pm to carry out checks on it.

Thames Valley Police also attended the incident.