A FIRE at a brand new £500,000 youth facility was not the result of a crime, police say.

The finding came after a teenager was interviewed voluntarily about the blaze at the Place youth centre in Ringwood.

Police and firefighters were called to the centre at Carvers Playing Field after a cricket team playing nearby saw smoke coming from the building.

It is understood that the youth centre was full of people at the time.

The Place was opened as a one-stop shop for youths of the town, costing £540,000, by the leader of Hampshire County Council at a ceremony in February.

It is believed that the cricketers called the emergency services and ran towards the flames. There they found an air block removed and an object inside that was ablaze.

They then bravely removed the object, which turned out to be a lit blanket stuffed inside the air vent.

It was initially thought that four people were involved in the incident, with one teenager spoken to by police.

A spokeswoman for Hampshire Constabulary said: “Police were made aware of a fire at a youth centre on Southampton Road in Ringwood which occurred between 3.45pm and 4.15pm on Sunday.

“The fire caused minor damage to the guttering of the building. A 15-year-old boy from Ringwood has been voluntarily interviewed about the incident and officers are satisfied that no criminal offences have been committed.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire Fire and Rescue said they were called at 3.44pm.

“There was a fire in the air vent ducting,” she said. “Police did attend but no arrests were made.”

One pump and a Land Rover from Ringwood were sent to deal with the fire.

School students from local schools stepped forward to speak to their heads of year about the incident, after a reward for information was issued by Ringwood Town Council.