A fire which has gutted parts of a Co Antrim church is being treated as arson.
On Sunday evening, nine firefighting appliances – including an aerial appliance – and 49 firefighters attended the blaze at Greenisland Church of Ireland in the Station Road area of the town
Photographs from the scene show substantial damage to the church hall, where a section of the roof was destroyed in the blaze, which began around 9pm on Sunday night.
In a statement, police confirmed they are treating the blaze as arson and are appealing for information.
Inspector Knowles said: “At approximately 9.10pm, we received a report of a fire at the property on the Station Road.
“Officers along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire Service attended and the blaze was extinguished.
"The Church was celebrating its 70th anniversary this week, and last night was busy in particular. Thankfully no one was injured, however a significant amount of damage was caused to both buildings.
“We are treating this as arson and I am appealing to anyone who may have witnessed anyone suspicious in the area or to anyone with CCTV, doorbell or other footage that could assist with enquiries, to contact police.”
Speaking about the fire, Reverend Issy Hawthorne-Steele said: "It’s absolutely devastating, it’s a shock. Most of the people are all in shock.
"Unbelievable that we have had such a weekend of celebration and then to hear that the church is on fire has been unspeakably awful, hard to take in.”
NIFRS was advising members of the public to avoid the area where possible last night and for nearby homeowners to keep their windows and doors closed.
Police said the road was closed while emergency services dealt with the fire and advised road users to seek alternate routes.
In an update at 2am, a NIFRS spokesperson said the team was scaling down attendance at the incident to three pumps and would remain throughout the night.
In a statement issued via its Facebook page last night, the church said nobody had been hurt during the incident.
"Folks we have awful news. There’s a terrible fire at the church,” said a spokesperson.
"It started at the back of the building and as I write the fire crews are desperately trying to stop it from spreading to the whole building. Please pray.
"We are just so thankful that the building was empty and nobody has been hurt.”
In a further update, the church said the roof of its hall and parish centre was “gone”.
East Antrim MLA John Stewart said news of the fire was “deeply concerning”.
"I truly hope that no one has been injured and that damage will be limited but the scenes are very worrying indeed,” he said.
“My thoughts are with all those connected with the church or affected by the fire and also the emergency battling the fire.
“This is truly awful to see.”
Alliance Councillor Aaron Skinner, who was at the scene last night, said the fire service was doing a “fantastic job” of stopping the fire spreading.
"It does look like the hall has been completely destroyed, unfortunately. There was a big community fun day and services throughout the weekend... so it’s just a horrible end to a fantastic weekend.”