A community pharmacy in Halifax, West Yorkshire was the target of a 'completely out of the blue' arson attack in the early hours of this morning (3 January).

A statement from West Yorkshire Police said police and fire services were called to a report of a fire at the Heath Pharmacy on Free School Lane at around 2.25am.

Two suspects approached the building and smashed a front window, before setting fire to the inside and fleeing the scene in a vehicle parked on nearby Clover Hill Road in the direction of Halifax, the statement said.

‘Minimal damage’ was caused inside the pharmacy and no one was injured, it added.

Detectives are now appealing for information and have asked anyone who witnessed a dark-coloured saloon vehicle driving in the area or anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the hours leading up to the incident to contact officers.

 

'A bit shocked'

 

Amanda Smith, manager at Heath Pharmacy, told The Pharmacist that the team was feeling ‘a bit shocked’ and the incident was ‘completely out of the blue’.

She said: ‘We were quite lucky that there’s not too much damage from the actual fire.

‘But every single thing in the pharmacy is just covered in soot - that’s the biggest problem we are dealing with.’

Ms Smith added that the pharmacy had opened as normal this morning, but staff had come in early to start the clean-up operation.

Information on the incident can be passed to Calderdale CID on 101 or by using the online 101 chat, quoting crime reference 13200003109.