THE chairman of a Meirionnydd football cub has spoken of his anguish after a fire destroyed the club’s storage container.

The fire on Sunday night completely destroyed a storage cabin which housed Barmouth & Dyffryn United FC’s kitchen, training equipment and the junior team’s kit.

Club chairman William Huntley believes the fire was started deliberately and this week told the Cambrian News that he does not know why someone would attack the club.

“What was gained out of doing this?” Mr Huntley said. “It was a kit room for the juniors, and there was a kitchen in there but there’s no electricity to the cabin at the moment so that didn’t start the fire.

“We’ve had a few issues over the years with doors being kicked in and kit thrown around, but nothing like this.

“I’m quite distraught as you can imagine.

“I’ve had a quote for about £2,000 for a new container but it’s also completely destroyed everything in it.”

Police said they were aware of the incident, and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, which had to send appliances from Dolgellau and Harlech, are appealing to people to become firefighters.

Mr Huntley said he received a call on Sunday night alerting him to the fire.

“It’s been a tough time for the club and we’ve spent thousands keeping the grass cut. We’ve all been under mental strain and now this!”

Mr Huntley, who has been at the club for 15 years, is determined to move forward despite the fire.

“When I can get some money in the pot I’ll try to get a container to replace this one,” he said. “I’ve still got big plans for the club.”

North Wales Police said they did not attend the fire but they are aware of it.

North Wales Fire and Rescue said it could not send Barmouth’s fire engine and appliances from Dolgellau and Harlech had to attend.

A spokesperson said on Monday: “We were called at 6.51pm yesterday, 26 September, to Park Road, Barmouth to a fire involving a metal constructed cabin used for storage of football equipment.

“The fire caused 100 per cent fire damage, and the cause of the fire is unknown. Crews from Harlech and Dolgellau attended.”

Asked why Barmouth’s fire engine did not attend the scene Paul Jenkinson, senior operations manager, said: “Barmouth is an on-call/RDS station, meaning that staff are paged via an alerter and must travel from their home or regular place of work to respond to incidents.

“Fire services across the UK have ‘on call’ firefighters, and more than two thirds of the firefighters in North Wales operate through this duty system. When personnel at the station are not available the service ensures the closest available resources are mobilised immediately. This is standard operating procedure across the region.”

He added: “We are looking to increase the numbers of on-call/RDS firefighters and improve availability of stations and crews, and we are appealing to residents across North Wales to consider a career as an on-call firefighter.

“We are currently recruiting on-call firefighters across the region. Please visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk to find out more.”