Police probe suspicious car fire link to BNP membership list » Communities » 24dash.com

Police were today investigating a suspicious car fire close to the home of a BNP member.

West Yorkshire Police said firefighters and police officers were called to the blaze in Windy Bank, Liversedge, West Yorkshire, at 10.40pm last night.

It is understood the car did not belong to anyone connected to the BNP but a member does live in the street.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the car was parked at the time and no one was hurt.

Asked about the proximity to a BNP member's home, he said: "The cause of the damage and any potential motive all form part of the current investigation."

There are eight people with Liversedge addresses on the BNP membership list which was leaked on the internet.

Yesterday a serving police officer included in the leaked list was suspended from duty.

Pc Steve Bettley, of Merseyside Police, returned early from a holiday abroad to help the force with an investigation into his alleged involvement with the far-right party.

The officer once worked for a temporary six-week period as personal driver for the force's chief constable, Bernard Hogan Howe.

Pc Bettley was one of thousands of BNP supporters on the list which was leaked on an internet blog.

His name was part of the main entry of a family member.

Officers are banned from joining or promoting the BNP because it would damage race relations, according to the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).

The list, which was removed from the original blog where it was posted, but remains available on other websites, names a number of current and former servicemen, along with ex-policemen.

Freelance broadcaster Rod Lucas, who was employed on a casual basis by Talksport, was also identified as a BNP member.

BNP members first blamed former party staff for the leak, but later took the line that it was a plot hatched by Labour supporters.

Leader Nick Griffin pledged to take court action against those behind the leak, but he welcomed the wave of publicity that was generated.

Eight houses on Eighth Avenue, in Liversedge, were cordoned off by police tape.

Two uniformed police officers stood by the cordon at either end of the road.

A charred patch of debris was visible on the road and path outside one of the red brick semi-detached houses.

The only BNP councillor on the local council, Roger Roberts, who lives a couple of miles from where the incident happened, said he believed the fire was not connected to the publication of the list.

Mr Roberts, who represents Heckmondwike on Kirklees Council, said: "That kind of thing is a regular occurrence on that estate. It could be drug dealers or anybody. Even the buses have stopped going through there because they get bricks thrown at them.

"The car doesn't even belong to a BNP member."

Neighbours in the street spoke of their shock at hearing the explosion last night.

One woman, who did not want to be named, said the club belonged to her female next-door neighbour.

The woman said she did not know the man named on the BNP list and said the car did not belong to him.

Describing the moment she heard the explosion, she said: "I was just nodding off and just heard this boom. I looked out of the window and the car was on fire.

"My kids slept through it so I got them up, we jumped out of the back and ran.

"I honestly thought it was my house. I thought someone had thrown something through my window."

She added: "There was nothing left of the car.

"The roof was blown off, the windscreen was blown off, there were bits of car in my garden and bits of car in next door's garden."

Andrew Purdy, who lives on Eighth Avenue, said he was watching television when he heard the explosion.

"I looked outside and couldn't see anything except black smoke.

"There were flames coming out of the car."

Describing the car, which he believed was a Peugeot 206, Mr Purdy said: "It was like a baked bean can, splattered all over.

"The windscreen was in front of my house."