POLICE are appealing for information about four people acting suspiciously near the scene of the blaze that engulfed the pavilion at Whitby Sports and Social Club on Friday.

Cheshire Constabulary spokeswoman SHelley Williams said: “One of the group is described as being 5ft 11in, with a slim build and short, blonde hair. He is in his late teens and was dressed in a sky-blue T-shirt and white tracksuit bottoms.

“He had a dog similar in appearance and size to a Staffordshire terrier, which was all white with light and dark-brown markings to its shoulder and body.

“A second man is described as being 5ft 7in with a skinny build and dark-brown hair. He has a gaunt, sunken face and was dressed in a grey hoodie and dark tracksuit bottoms. He was pushing a dark-coloured mountain bike.”

There are no descriptions for the other two men.

Whitby Sports and Social Bowling Club chairman Laurence Jarvis said the club’s honours board, charting 50 years of trophy winners, was among hundreds of pounds worth of stock lost in the blaze.

Jacks belonging to the men’s, ladies, pensioners and Chester League teams were also consumed by the flames.

But the bowling league’s constitution means the club had to play their scheduled game on Monday.

Mr Jarvis said: “We didn’t have benches out because kids vandalised them a couple of years ago.

“I understand they’ve got them on film with CCTV cameras.

“They have parties there at night. They still had a party on the field on Friday night, next to the burnt pavilion.”

In total 19 jacks were lost and, at £40 each, they will be hard to replace.

Ellesmere Port Cricket Club stored screens, boundaries, ropes, markers and score boards in the building.

Its captain Gareth Boys said: “It’s a real shame. It is heartbreaking.

“That’s basically our little world.

“We spent money on new changing rooms, we spent our own money. We put partition walls up and turned it into our own cricket pavilion. There was carpeting, noticeboards, storage rooms.”

Colin Heyes, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Arson Reduction manager, said: “This fire has caused significant and costly damage to what was an important and much-used community facility.

“We are now working very closely with our colleagues in the police to investigate what caused this incident.

“Although the investigation is at an early stage we think it was almost certainly started deliberately.”

Police are treating the fire as suspicious and anyone with information which could assist the investigation, or who may have seen anything of relevance, should call Cheshire Constabulary on 0845 458 0000.