UPDATE: '˜I heard a loud banging and crackling noise'- Louth man alerts fire and rescue to derelict football stand fire

Jay Pendlebury, 27, was the one to alert Lincolnshie Fire and Rescue of the incident when he was woken at 2.55am this morning (Monday) after hearing a loud banging noise.

He tells the Leader: “I was in bed asleep and it was around 2.55am when I heard a banging noise, I initially ignored it, but then heard it again.

“I then heard a loud crackling noise, so I stuck my head out of the window and I couldn’t tell at first if it was smoke or mist, but I soon realised it was smoke.

“I knew the building was empty and I immediately called the fire brigade and they were on the scene straight away.

“Then all I remember seeing was large flames coming out of the roof and walls - the fire really engulfed the building.

“My neighbour lives in a bungalow and her house was right near the football ground so I quickly went round to wake her up and got her round to our house, just to be safe.”

Mr Pendlebury also recalls the large number of hoses that filled all of Park Avenue.

He added: “There was eight fire engines on scene in total, two were parked down the alleyway leading to the football ground and then the other six were parked back to back all the way down Park Avenue and all of their fire hoses took up most of the road.”
Another neighbour, who lives across the way from the football ground, said: “I saw the fire and I was going to call the emergency services, but I was told someone had already done that.

“The fire looked really bad and it was a good job that no-one was in the building, as I don’t think they would have got out.”

The ground has this morning been closed off and is being treated as a crime scene, while further investigations are under way.