A charity whose vans were destroyed in an arson attack on a Rolls-Royce facility in the Bristol area have been told by the company that they can no longer park their vehicles there. Four Towns and Vale Link Community Transport suffered serious losses during a spate of arson attacks in Filton, Patchway, Stoke Gifford, Bradley Stoke and Little Stoke between 1am and 5am on Sunday, April 3.
As many as 12 vans owned by the charity, which provides transport for people in need across South Gloucestershire, were completely destroyed when they were torched on the car park of the Rolls-Royce site in Filton. Up to 40 vehicles were damaged overall, and 23 vehicles were destroyed.
The charity has been parking on the Rolls-Royce site for many years, but has now been told that all of them must be removed by Tuesday, April 12. A spokesperson for Rolls-Royce said that following the incident, only vehicles owned or driven by Rolls-Royce employees, authorized contractors or visitors will be allowed to park at their facilities.
Read more: CCTV footage released by police following string of arson attacks in South Gloucestershire
But Four Towns and Vale Link says it is now desperately searching for somewhere else to put the vehicles. It is searching for an organisation that can offer secure parking for its vehicles for approximately six months in the Patchway, Filton, and Bradley Stoke areas.
A charity spokesperson said: "We are pleased to advise that we are managing to operate an almost normal service and hope to have some breathing space to sort things out even more in the next two weeks when the schools are on holiday. However, we are now searching for somewhere to park our vehicles as Rolls-Royce, who have kindly allowed us to park our vehicles free of charge on their Filton site for many years, have now requested that we move our vehicles off site by next Tuesday.
"We have the potential of a short-term fix with the help of South Gloucestershire Council but this will be a little out of our usual area of operation. There is also hope of a long term solution but this is few months away."
And they added: "We are very grateful for the overwhelming messages of support and offers of help we have received. We are doing our very best to meet the current needs of our members and will seek support as required." The 12 vans which were destroyed represented half of the charity's fleet, while another van was damaged but may be reparable.
According to Avon and Somerset police, offenders set fire to the first vehicle at 1.09am on New Road in the early hours of Sunday, before heading north where they carried out further attacks on Gatcombe Road at 1.33am and then on Sandringham Road at 1.47am. Nearly three quarters of an hour later, at 2.30am, they targeted vehicles parked at the Jubilee Centre on Savages Wood Road before doubling back to Little Stoke playing fields where they set more vehicles on fire at 3.09am.
The arsonists are then believed to have headed west to the car park behind the Rolls-Royce site on Gipsy Patch Lane where they destroyed 16 minibuses before police say they most likely retraced their steps to set fire to a vehicle on Sherbourne Avenue. Police have released CCTV footage of two people, believed to be teenage boys or young men, who they would like to speak with following the attacks.
A spokesperson for Rolls-Royce said: "This weekend an act of arson was committed against several vehicles parked in one of the car parks at our Bristol, UK facility. Unfortunately, as a result of this incident, only vehicles owned or driven by Rolls-Royce employees, authorized contractors or visitors will now be permitted to be parked at our facilities."
