Arson has not been ruled out after Cottingley Working Men’s Club was set alight for the second time in a week.

Fire investigators are currently looking into the exact cause of the blaze which happened at about 6.30am on Sunday, exactly a week after a fire on Sunday, December 9.

Firefighters from Shipley and Bingley were called to the scene yesterday with a spokesman from Shipley Fire Service saying that it looked like the club had been targeted again and that it could be arson.

Speaking yesterday after the latest attack, club president Steve Greenwood said: “It’s the same as last week, but this time they have thrown a rock through a different window and set fire to it.

“There is more damage this time. The snooker tables and cues are ruined; the fire also melted the electrics.

“I don’t know why it has happened I have told the police, no one has been barred or suspended, I just can’t understand it.

“We are reopening as usual and the staff have worked to clean up after the smoke damage, I’m not sure what the insurance are going to do with it.”

Last week, the popular venue was saved by the swift arrival of Shipley firefighters.

Club secretary Geoff Graham had said then that it was only the rapid response of the fire crew which stopped the single-storey building from going up in flames after a blaze was started deliberately in the tap room.

A window was broken and then something incendiary was hurled into the room which holds two snooker tables.

Cottingley WMC in Hope Hill View has some 250 members and has just finished expensive decorating and improvements to its concert room and foyer area.

A spokesperson from West Yorkshire Police said that the incident is being treated as suspected arson and is being investigated.

Anyone who was in the area at the time or with any information should contact Airedale and North Bradford CID on 101.