SELBY'S fire chief has issued a warning to would-be fire-starters after a spate of blazes over the Bank Holiday.

Colin Hunter, the manager at Selby fire station, spoke out today after crews attended three building blazes, three burned-out vehicles and a bin fire over the weekend. All are suspected arson attacks.

He said the huge blaze which ripped through the Somerfield and Wilkinson stores in Abbey Walk on Sunday, was still being investigated, as were fires at Barkston Ash RC Primary School, near Tadcaster, and at a terrace house in Church Row, in Whitley, near Selby.

Video footage of the fire at the Somerfield and Wilkinson stores will be on The Press website, www.yorkpress.co.uk, from today for the first time.

The Press reported yesterday how seven people had been arrested in connection with the supermarket fire, but later reports suggested eight arrests had been made.

Mr Hunter said: "All fires are unwelcome, but it's even more galling when you have deliberate - or possibly deliberate - ones," he said.

"These fires tie up a lot of people and a lot of resources for a great deal of time.

"Then afterwards there's all the investigating and cleaning up which needs doing. When fire crews are working on these fires, they can't be dealing with other incidents, including traffic accidents and accidental fires.

"We'd like to put a stop to all fires, but it's more upsetting when they're set deliberately."

A spokeswoman for Somerfield said: "The fire caused significant damage to a large area of the building and caused smoke damage to other parts of the store.

"Over the weekend a dedicated team has been working around the clock to get the store back to normal as soon as possible. We hope to reopen the store later this week."

Barry Martland, the fire station's Red Watch manager, said: "It's been a busy old weekend."

He said firefighters from Selby were called to a house blaze in Church Row, in Whitley, just after 3am yesterday.

"You could see the flames behind the front door," he said. "We managed to contain the fire to the living room, but the whole house was fire damaged."

He said neighbouring houses were undamaged, and although they feared a resident was trapped, a search by four firefighters in breathing apparatus had brought no results.

Mr Martland said the resident - a woman who is thought to have stayed at her mother's house the night of the fire - had had smoke alarms fitted just three weeks earlier.

"The smoke alarm was going when we got there - which proves it's worth it," he said.

"If there's anyone in Selby still without a smoke alarm, they should call the station on 01757 702453 to arrange a visit."

Firefighters were also called out to a car fire in Carr Street, on the Abbot's Road estate, at 1.30am yesterday morning, before attending two other deliberate vehicles fires.

They tackled an abandoned van which had been torched in Lordship Lane, just north of the town, and then a burned-out stolen car in Stubbs Lane, south-west of Selby. The crew was later called to a bin fire in Holmefield Close, Brayton.

Firefighters spent much of Sunday fighting the Abbey Walk blaze, which has caused up to £2 million damage and left more than 100 staff at the two stores temporarily out of work.

The Tadcaster crew was called out to Barkston Ash at about 4.30pm on Monday afternoon.

Mr Hunter said: "The people setting them are putting their own, residents', and firefighters' lives at risk. These people may need the services of the fire crews at some point - they should stop and think about that."