Police and fire officers are investigating a blaze that destroyed the new £25,000 outdoor area at a village pub, close to Luton Airport.
The ‘Secret Garden’ vat The White Horse in Tea Green, was created for customers to enjoy as the coronavirus restrictions were relaxed this week.
It had wooden structures, a children’s play area, lights and a fire pit. It was hoped to use it for family celebrations and weddings.
But at 1.30 on Wednesday morning it was destroyed in the fire.
So far over £2,600 has been raised on A Go Fund Me Page set up by the event manger Jon Haines.
He wrote: “The White Horse Tea Green is a country pub in Luton which has been built on community support and driven by our customers needs.
“The team has worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to support the local community with home deliveries. We were the first to launch feed me local, supply meals to front line workers and food supplies to local food banks using profits from our customers orders.
“In the last few months we have invested over £25k and thousands of hours of work into creating a new covid secure outdoor space to serve our customers post lock down.
“Our first customers joined us on Monday evening for a sneak peek before our official opening this Thursday. “
“In the early hours of this morning (Weds) our new space and kids play area was set on fire and burnt to the ground.
“We have been over whelmed with the public support and many customers have set up GoFundMe pages to help us rebuild the space.
“We are so grateful and with this in mind we would like to keep all fundraising to one page and ensure it is put back into the venue for each and everyone of you to enjoy this summer.
“Thank you for helping us through this heart breaking experience.
“Jon and the White Horse Team.”
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire police said:”Police were called at just after 8.30am on Wednesday 14 April bto a report of a fire in the garden of The White Horse in Tea Green.
“Officers and the fire service attended the scene. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated.
“Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 101.”
