Police are hunting two teenagers after a series of “suspicious” blazes at a Perth retail park.
Emergency crews were called to tackle a fire at the old B&Q building, at St Catherine’s on the edge of the city centre, on Saturday night.
Firefighters found piles of rubbish ablaze inside the deserted unit. It took about an hour to bring the fire under control.
Crews were called out again at around 1.30pm on Monday, after more waste was set on fire inside the same building.
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said two teams from Perth used breathing apparatus to combat the blaze. A fan was used to ventilate the property and workmen were called in to secure the premises.
Police Scotland have now appealed for witnesses after two young men were reportedly seen in the area, around the time of Monday’s fire.
A spokeswoman said: “We are making inquiries into two suspicious fires which happened at a unit in St Catherine’s Retail Park on Monday, May 1 and Saturday, April 29.
“Officers are keen to trace two youths aged 15 to 16 years of age.
“One is described as 5ft 8in tall and was wearing a yellow North Face jacket, with the hood up, and grey tracksuit bottoms.
“The other is 5ft 6in tall, wearing a navy North Face jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms.”
The fire was contained inside the vacant building, but neighbouring PC World was forced to close amid fears shoppers and staff could suffer smoke inhalation.
Regional manager Stuart Doherty said: “Following the incident at St Catherine’s Retail Park on Monday, PC World is now open for business with no damage done to the site.
“Firefighters advised the store to close at midday when the incident occurred, to protect customers from smoke inhalation, due to the empty unit next door catching fire. Customers are now safe to visit the PC World site.”
B&Q moved out of St Catherine’s into new premises at Crieff Road 10 years ago.
The old building was, until recently, used by the chartiy Computers 4 Africa.
The group collected old computers and other electronic equipment and shipped them out to schools and colleges in some of the poorest parts of the world.
Anyone with information about the fires is urged to call police on 101 or freephone Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.
