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(Image: Archant)

Two blokes working at a bike shop in Bury St Edmunds tried to while away a slow Friday afternoon by cremating the remains of a mouse that they had found.Unfortunately, the fire quickly got out of control and the resultant blaze caused £1.6 million worth of damage, completely destroying the shop where they worked and spreading to a nearby pub and restaurant. Dysney Sibbons and Ashley Finley were "trying to amuse themselves on a boring day" when they used an accelerant to burn the deceased rodent, Ipswich Crown Court heard yesterday.Finley, 25 and Sibbons, 23, had entered guilty pleas on the first day of their trial.Judge David Pugh said that their "sheer stupidity" had been responsible for the destructive blaze at Cycle King in Bury St Edmunds, close to the town's cathedral and famous Abbey Gardens."I am satisfied from reading the papers in this case that it was an act of sheer stupidity by these two defendants, particularly because of the location of where they were planning to amuse themselves to alleviate a boring day by cremating a mouse," he said.

(Image: Archant)

A dozen fire engines and over 60 firefighters were called in to deal with the inferno.

The first fire crews arrived at 5pm and it was around midnight when the conflagration was officially over.

Cycle King group managing director Darren Hunt said at the time: "Everyone here at Cycle King are both shocked and saddened to report that a fire broke out on Friday evening at our Bury St.Edmunds store. “Most importantly, we can confirm that no-one has been injured and we would like to thank the police and fire services for their amazing response.”

The incident occurred at the end of September 2017, and it was not until late October that the business was re-opened on temporary premises.Steven Dyble, acting for for Finley, told the court that his client hadn't anticipated the catastrophic consequences of the blaze.He said Finley had worked at the shop for over three months before blaze destroyed it and had lost his job and his previous good character as a result of the "catastrophic" fire.The case has been adjourned until the week commencing June 24 for pre-sentence reports on the defendants to be prepared by the probation service.