Council pledges to rebuild destroyed bandstand

A council has pledged to rebuild a bandstand that was destroyed in a "devastating" arson attack.

Essex Fire and Rescue Service was called to the blaze in Town Park, Harlow, just before 01:00 BST on Friday.

Harlow Council said it had already started making the site safe and was clearing the wreckage to make way for a new bandstand, which it hoped to have open for the community next summer.

Dan Swords, leader of the council, said: "It is so devastating when you watch quite literally something like that go up in flames."

Historic England said a bandstand was added in the low valley to the east of Spurrier's Core in 1973 and it was restored with the addition of backstage facilities during 2015-16.

Essex Police confirmed the incident was being treated as arson.

Mr Swords described the event as "tragic".

He said: "To put this into context, particularly through the '70s and '80s, this bandstand held concerts for the likes of the Bay City Rollers, Thin Lizzie, Mud, Mungo Jerry, everyone in-between.

"Tens of thousands of residents would turn out to see these events and that's been going on for years and years."

Mr Swords said the council hoped a new bandstand would be built by next summer, in order to bring back the landmark and opportunities for musicians and the community.

He said: "We're absolutely determined that we now move on to the next chapter and the resolve of residents is strengthened as a result of this."

Singer-songwriter Dan Titus hopes to one day perform at the new bandstand.

Following the fire, he was seen on social media performing outside the wreckage.

He said: "I've always wanted to play on the bandstand and when I saw that it was destroyed I thought to myself, I'm going to go down there anyway and play... and raise a bit of Harlow spirit back up."

Mr Titus, who was born and raised in the town, said the bandstand had been there since he could remember.

"It's one of those places if you were going to play at The Square and get to a certain level, if you were good enough, they would get you to play at the bigger events."

In the meantime, it has been announced that a 'See You Soon' music event is due to take place on Saturday, 19 October outside the bandstand, to show that the spirit of music and community will never be lost in the town.

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