A popular Basildon soft play centre was forced to close at the weekend after a suspected deliberate fire on Friday.

Firefighters were called to a fire at the alleyway at the rear of Monkey Madness in Miles Gray Road.

When fire crews arrived they reported the fire was quickly developing and had spread inside the building.

The soft play centre suffered damage to the rear of the building and inside the rear stock and boiler rooms, but most of the building was thankfully unaffected.

Unfortunately, due to the smoke damage, Monkey Madness was forced to close "until further notice" on Saturday.

The venue issued an update yesterday, confirming it was still closed.

A spokesman said: "Good morning everyone we are closed again today, we hope you all enjoy the sunshine."

It is unclear when the popular party venue will re-open, however parents say they have been told it will "almost certainly" be open by this weekend.

Firefighters believe the blaze was started outside where a pile of old sofas and furniture looked like they were waiting to be disposed of.

Police are investigating the possibility that this fire could have been started deliberately.

Anyone who knows how this fire started should report it to FireStoppers. FireStoppers is a completely independent charity which is 100 per cent anonymous.

Call 0800 169 5558 or visit forms.theiline.co.uk/firestoppers.