Fires at a cafe and a delicatessen in Dumfries are being treated as suspicious by police.

A takeaway was also vandalised during a series of incidents in the town early on Thursday morning.

Firefighters were called to the Palmerston Cafe in Glasgow Street at around 4.05am after reports the two overhead canopies were on fire.

At around 4.20am, a blaze was reported at the Polish Delicatessen in St Michael Street. The canopy had been set on fire, and was extinguished by firefighters.

A short time later at around 4.30am, police were called to reports of a disturbance outside the premises of the Benvenuto Takeaway in Eastfield Road, where a man was seen banging on the windows.

Officers called to the scene found a window had been smashed, as had two windows in nearby parked vans. An attempt had also apparently been made to set fire to one of the vehicles.

Police believe the incidents may be linked and are appealing for information.

Pc David Steele said: “Although inquiries are at an early stage it does seem that these crimes may well be linked and we are carrying out door-to-door inquiries and reviewing CCTV footage at this time.

“We want to trace the following described man who was seen at the Palmerston Cafe around the time the fire started.

“He was wearing a baseball cap with a logo on it, had over-ear earphones, was carrying a rucksack and was wearing dark trousers, a long-sleeved top and trainers.

“These are serious crimes and the consequences could have been catastrophic had any of these fires taken hold to the actual buildings.

“We would like to hear from anyone who may have been in the area of any of the three crimes to call us on the 101 number, quoting the reference number 0335 10/1 if they saw or heard anything suspicious, or from anyone who can help us in any way to catch whoever was responsible for these crimes.”