POLICE are appealing for witnesses after arsonists started three blazes in Chesham which could have triggered a gas explosion at the town's Waitrose store.

The fires were started in the doorways of McDonald's, electrical goods dealers Chittertons and outside Carpenters Cargo between 5.30am and 5.50am last Saturday.

The blazes were so severe they damaged a gas pipeline leading to the supermarket.

Inspector Andrew West, of Chesham police, said: "We are treating these fires extremely seriously -- the potential consequences of them do not bear thinking about."

Officers want to speak to an Asian man, recorded on the town's CCTV tapes, who was standing next to the telephone kiosk outside McDonald's when the fire was started.

The man, in his mid-twenties, is 5ft 10in tall and of stocky build He was wearing a dark-coloured crew-neck top with light-coloured writing on the front and light-coloured trousers. Police also believe that there were two or three people involved.

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