A DERELICT car showroom was set on fire yesterday.

Two crews of firefighters from Southend and one from Leigh were called to former dealership on London Road, Westcliff, across from the Palace Theatre, at about 3.40pm.

They found the building to be smoke logged and use three hose reel jets to tackle the blaze, which was extinguished by 4.50pm.

Leigh sub-officer Steve Milligan said: “There was a small 20m by 15m fire in there which got out of the roof void, which was insulated with straw, which made it quite a problem for us to pull apart and get inside it.

“We spent three hours there and it looked as though it had been on fire before because all the stairs were burnt away.

“We had reports of two to three youths in the area running away, but whether they were in there and something started it or they started it, I couldn’t speculate.”