Police arrest man, 31, after 'skip and several bins' on fire

Officers want to hear from anyone with CCTV

Dave Knapper West Midlands Content Editor

06:08, 19 Aug 2026

[Firefighter training session at Kingsway Fire Station, Derby.]

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(Image: PA)

Police have made an arrest after emergency services were confront with a 'skip and several bins' on fire in a town centre. Emergency services had been sent to the centre of Stafford in the middle of day to tackle the incident.

Now a 31-year-old man is being quizzed over the incident on Eastgate Street. Firefighters had been called to the scene at 12.30pm on Monday. A spokesperson for Staffordshire Police said: "Officers attended the scene alongside colleagues from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the fire was extinguished by fire crews.

"Thankfully, nobody was reported injured."

The man, of no fixed address, was arrested on suspicion of arson. As of yesterday he remained in custody for questioning. A spokesperson for the local policing team in Stafford said: "With the warm, dry weather we have experienced recently, the risk of any fire spreading and causing significant damage is high.

Thankfully the fire was extinguished quickly by firefighters and an arrest was made."

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Anyone with information should call 101 and quote incident 312 of August 17.

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