Middleton Railway sustained an estimated £30,000 worth of damage after a fire that gutted a nearby builders’ merchant spread to the attraction.
Having cancelled its steam operations because of the heatwave, the second day of the line’s July 14/15 Leeds Diesels on Display gala was cancelled on police advice, as 100 firefighters tackled a blaze at the Jewson store in Lake Terrace, from where occupants of around 30 terraced houses were evacuated.
The blaze, believed to have been arson, spread to the railway where a Palvan, a four-wheeled box van, was destroyed, the exterior of the main building was scorched and the outdoor PA speaker ruined.
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