Blaze at Maltby's Queens pub among seven overnight arson attacks

Three fire crews attended the blaze at the Tickhill Road venue at about 11.40pm yesterday (Monday).

It is believed the fire was started in an outside smoking area but spread to the inside of the pub.

The crews were at the scene for about two hours.

Earlier, rubbish was deliberately set alight at 9.15pm on Tenter Street in Thornhill. Firefighters were there for about 20 minutes.

At 10.20pm there was another rubbish blaze at Low Lane in Carr, near Maltby.

A wheelie bin was deliberately set on fire at 11pm on Hartington Road in Holmes.

Two deliberate fires at Canklow followed. A bin was set alight on Canklow Road at 12.45am and there was a rubbish blaze at Rotherham Road about 15 minutes later.

At 4am, there was another arson involving rubbish, this time at Old Doncaster Road at Wath.

A fire service spokesman said: “Deliberate fires tie up our crews and potentially slow their response down to genuine, life-threatening emergencies. 

“We record each one and will be working closely with partners across the Rotherham district to try and stamp out these incidents. 

“The public can help too, just by not leaving bins out overnight, not leaving bags of rubbish lying around outside and reporting suspicious activity, you can make a big difference.”