Mansfield Group: No arrests since 50 vehicles destroyed in arson attack at Sheffield car pound used by police

There have still been no arrests over a suspected arson attack that may have destroyed crucial criminal evidence at a Sheffield car pound.

More than 50 vehicles were destroyed overnight on July 18, 2023 when offenders are believed to have set fire to cars impounded at the Mansfield Group Rescue Repair Recovery centre on Parkway Drive.

Photos showed how dozens of cars, vans and motorbikes were reduced to torched-out shells.

It emerged the depot was one of a number used by South Yorkshire Police to store vehicles seized in criminal investigations - meaning the fire may have destroyed potentially crucial evidence.

A number of organisations, including Sheffield City Council, also used the car pound.

Now, South Yorkshire Police has confirmed no one has been arrested in the four months since the suspected attack.

The force also offered "no update" on if it had determined whether any of the vehicles destroyed were linked to criminal cases.

The Mansfield Group also declined to comment on the case or how the incident had been resolved with motorists who lost their vehicles in the fire.

Beyond those involved in ongoing criminal cases, cars seized by SYP and held at the pound could also have belonged to victims of crime waiting to receive them back after they were stolen.

Potentially, vehicles could also have been seized from people under investigation who would have eventually had their cars returned to them - had they not been torched.

Around 10 fire engines were needed to get the blaze under control on the night in July. No one was injured in the incident.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact SYP online or by calling 101 and quoting incident number 1,039 of July 18, 2023.