A Suffolk college has stepped in to help a model club based in Weeting after a storage shed was devastated by fire.

A Suffolk college has stepped in to help a model club based in Weeting after a storage shed was devastated by fire.

Brandon and District Model Club has a 1,500ft narrow gauge railway permanently set up at the Weeting showground and is busy preparing for the Weeting Show, July 17-19.

But earlier this month an arson attack on a nearby cart shed caused a fire which spread to the model club's storage shed, damaging equipment and destroying all the tables and chairs they use for meetings.

It also damaged vintage wagons and carts used for displays in the show and chairs and tables used at the event, being held on July 18 and 19.

Now West Suffolk College at Bury St Edmunds has donated some old tables and chairs to help the club carry on its work.

“We are very grateful to the college,” said Ian Jerrold, secretary at the Model Club. “We have a 40ft container on the site where we store the locomotive and carriages, and we are using that at the moment.”

The club is now looking for a 10ft container to replace the shed.

“We had some old polypropylene chairs with rubber feet missing which could damage the vinyl flooring of our newer buildings, and tables that are not stackable and slightly damaged,” said facilities manager Kevin Green.

“We are very pleased to have been able to recycle the equipment to the benefit of the local community.”

Brandon and District Model Club has around 40 members, the youngest being 16 years old.