Four coaches destroyed in fire

Firefighters turning out from the Beeching Road fire station at 5.20am could see the pall of black smoke from Renown's coach and lorry park a quarter of a mile away in Wainwright Road.

PC Stuart Kenway and PC Anthony Clarke were the first on the scene.

PC Kenway said that at that stage the fire was confined to one coach.

The firefighting operation was directed by Sub Officer Graham Fletcher of Bexhill.

As firefighters cleared up after the blaze, Sub Officer Fletcher, who lives near the fire station, said: "It's quite impressive when you open your front door and you can see the blaze...!

"Both appliances turned out from Bexhill and one further was requested from Battle because we needed further manpower.

"The first coach was well alight. Because they were parked close together, the fire was spreading to the rear of five other coaches.

"The smoke was intense and we had to use five sets of breathing apparatus. The fire was brought under control in about 45 minutes using three jets and one hose reel.

"Half way through, we had a report that a person had been reported on the scene but we found nobody."

Sub Officer Fletcher was speaking from a point where a section of the security fence between the gated yard and the public footpath between Wainwright Road and Beeching Road had been removed.

Asked about the cause of the fire, he said: "That is under investigation at the moment."

A specialist police fire investigation team has been assisting East Sussex Fire and Rescue in the investigation this week.

Renown Coaches operates not only luxury coach travel but school bus and other services.

But it was "business as usual" for the busy company despite the disaster.

For the company, operations manager Adam Yates said later in the morning: "Everything is covered. We have managed to accommodate everything."

He was unable to put a value on the damage but confirmed that one coach had been gutted and four others damaged.

"At least three of those will be completely written off, I expect."