THE owner of a Corsham hair salon has praised the ‘absolutely amazing’ community in the town, after it was damaged by a fire.

Three fire crews were called to the High Street at the Hair Company salon, after a neighbour reported a fire on Wednesday last week at 4.55am, with the scene cleared by 12.20pm.

The fire also took out the electricity supply in a string of properties on the High Street, with engineers restoring the power later that afternoon.

Hair Company co-director Sarah Pieroux said: “I just wanted to thank the firemen, and all the people who helped us.

“The Cinnamon bistro made hot drinks for all the firemen. The lady next door was the one who called the fire brigade and it’s thanks to her fast-thinking things weren’t a lot worse.”

No staff were inside when the fire started, with all the hairdressers temporarily moving to the company’s other salons.

“All the girls are working in our Chippenham salon at the moment, and I want to thank all the other staff for being so supportive,” said Mrs Pieroux.

“The fire was quite small, but there is quite a lot of smoke damage. I can’t say too much about the fire itself until the insurers have looked at it, but we are hoping to get up and running as soon as possible.”

Fire investigation officers say the cause of the incident was accidental.

A day later, on Thursday, a 41-year-old man was arrested near Trowbridge after a suspected arson attack in Lacock.

Two police officers arrived at a house on Corsham Road at 1.45am and rescued two women from the first floor, before two fire crews extinguished the blaze.

The suspect was arrested at a house in Hilperton at 2.15pm and has now been released on police bail.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Melksham CID on 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.