A Fife rugby club has been left with a bill for hundreds of pounds after fire destroyed all of its training equipment.
Firefighters were called to extinguish the blaze in a metal container at Carleton Park, home of Glenrothes Rugby Club, on Tuesday morning.
The cause of the fire, discovered shortly before 8am, has yet to be determined, but club president John Tennant insists that its cause could not have been due to any materials inside the container.
Admitting that the items were not covered by the club’s insurance, he said: ”There was nothing in there that could have started it. I don’t think we’re insured because the container is outside and it’s hard to get insurance for that. It will cost a few hundred pounds to replace the equipment and even more for a new container.
”I believe that everything has been destroyed. Everything that we use for training is in there like tackle bags, post protectors, flags and other equipment. It’s very unfortunate.”
A call has gone out to the wider rugby community for short-term assistance, with matches set to return to Carleton Park a week on Saturday.
Earlier this week the club was named as the Scottish Rugby Union’s club of the month, an honour that saw the club receive £1,000 as well as national recognition for its work in developing young players.
Admitting that the fire will eat into these funds, Mr Tennant added: ”I got a text from the club secretary saying that the fire brigade had been at the scene.
”The container is locked so I’m not sure how it has been set alight. It’s unfortunate but we know where some of that money will have to go now.”
Photo David Wardle