Smoke billowed from the vehicle as firefighters brought the blaze under control. Members of the club, which is popular with footballers, watched the drama unfold.
Masked arsonists set fire to a £200,000 Bentley in the car park of a David Lloyd club popular with footballers and other sports stars.
Video showed smoke billowing from the vehicle as firefighters brought the blaze under control. Members at the Gosforth club in Newcastle, which has outdoor tennis courts and an outdoor pool, shared a video of the incident, expressing their shock at the blaze which happened in broad daylight.
Newcastle Utd boss Eddie Howe has visited with his family, along with other famous faces including footballers and basketball players. Toon legend Alan Shearer used the pool to recover from injury during his playing days.
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Members expressed shock at the attack which happened just after 8.30 am on Tuesday morning when the club was busy with early morning gym goers. One told the Mirror: “It was clearly a targeted attack and they were brazen – they appeared to use petrol to set light to the Bentley and it was done in broad daylight.
“The vehicle is easy to spot because of its personalised plates. But presumably they followed the owner to know they would be there.”
Northumbria Police confirmed that they are investigating the incident. A spokesperson said: “Just after 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday March 31, we received a report of a vehicle on fire in a car park attached to a premises on Castles Farm Road in Gosforth, Newcastle. It was reported that unknown masked suspects poured accelerant on a parked vehicle and then set it alight.
“Emergency services attended the scene and extinguished the fire. Thankfully, nobody was injured. Enquiries are ongoing. “
The site is opposite the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and popular with residents of the affluent suburbs of Gosforth and Jesmond. A spokesperson from David Lloyd Clubs said “We’re aware of the incident that occurred at our Newcastle club. We are assisting police with their investigations and are unable to comment further.”
Russell Barnes, chief executive of David Lloyd, reacted to claims that ‘tagged’ criminals were using their saunas and spa rooms in an interview in January. He said his staff took speedy action to clamp down on any inappropriate conduct but added that people who were well behaved were welcome.
He added: “It is not for us to say, ‘You can’t become a member if you’ve got an ankle tag.’ We have removed a number of members for behaviour that we don’t think is appropriate. But we’re dealing with human beings and the whole spectrum of people’s behaviours.”
Police said anyone with information on the arson attack should send them a direct message on social media or use the live chat or report forms on our Force website. It is also possible to call 101, and quote reference number: NP-20260331-0200
