Two 13-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of arson following a major fire at Thurmaston Shopping Centre in Leicestershire that caused significant damage to multiple retail units and sparked a large emergency response.<\/p>\n
Police have now confirmed the arrests after launching an investigation into the blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Saturday, 20 June, at the retail park on Barkby Thorpe Lane.<\/p>\n
Officers attended alongside Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, with no injuries reported.<\/p>\n
The arrests follow several days of enquiries in which detectives reviewed CCTV footage and carried out local investigations as part of an ongoing probe into the cause of the fire.<\/p>\n
Leicestershire Police said the incident is being treated as suspected arson while fire investigators continue to establish exactly how the blaze began.<\/p>\n
Detective Inspector Jim Willoughby said: \u201cThe fire service is still working to determine the exact cause of the fire but in order to ensure no possible evidential opportunities are lost, we have been carrying out a number of enquiries and are currently treating the fire as a suspected arson attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of this work has included speaking to people who were in the area at the time and reviewing CCTV in and around the shopping centre. This has led to the arrest of two boys who will now be questioned by police.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone has any information that could help police with this ongoing investigation, call 101 – quoting reference 26*359496.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emergency services were initially called to the scene at around 4am after reports of a large fire affecting several units. Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service deployed eight fire engines, two aerial ladder appliances and more than 40 firefighters to bring the blaze under control.<\/p>\n
At the time of the incident large smoke plume was visible across surrounding neighbourhoods, with residents advised to keep windows and doors closed while crews brought the fire under control.<\/p>\n
No injuries were reported, but the incident has caused significant disruption for retailers as they continue to assess both physical damage and commercial impact.<\/p>\n
Stores including PureGym, Superdrug, Boots and Sports Direct reopened later on Saturday, while Greggs, Starbucks and Marks & Spencer remain closed. Mountain Warehouse and Card Factory have been demolished following the fire.<\/p>\n
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Police have confirmed the arrests following an investigation into the blaze in the early hours of Saturday morning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266702,"featured_media":2111935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"coauthors":[127717],"class_list":["post-2111932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-leicestershire","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\n