Sports club equipment went up in flames in an arson attack that caused an estimated £10,000 worth of damage.

A storage shed at the Old Cranleighan Club, Thames Ditton, was broken into and set alight at about 10.10pm on Monday, November 28.

The building now needs to be rebuilt and police have started an official investigation.

The Portsmouth Road club’s valuable hockey equipment, uniforms and new mini rugby equipment, for their sessions with four-to 12-year-olds, were totally destroyed.

JJ Griffin, who runs the club, described it as mindless vandalism and said he would have to install CCTV, something he had resisted for a long time.

He said: “They have completely destroyed the building, we have lost everything.

“We’ve had no major problems with antisocial behaviour before, but I’m going to get full CCTV cameras installed and I will be less likely to allow youths in to use the facilities.

“I used to let them use them in to play football, but I will be less likely to now.

“The fire service was brilliant. If they hadn’t got here as quickly as they did, the whole bandstand could have burned down.”

The fire is being treated as suspicious and Surrey Police officers are conducting a joint investigation with fire investigators to establish the cause of the blaze.

Scene of crime officers have carried out extensive forensic examinations at the club.

Witnesses should call Surrey Police on 101, quoting reference EL/11/9060, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.