TIMELY calls from watchful members of the public saved Teignmouth’s new supermarket from suffering serious damage in an arson attack.

Firefighters admitted the consequences of the Waitrose blaze could have been much more dire if the fire had not been spotted when it was.

And the bizarre circumstances of the incident immediately prompted fire chiefs to leave a warning to store bosses about removing possible fire-attack hazards to more secure areas, a recommendation since accepted by the store.

Fire-raisers are reckoned to be behind deliberately setting fire to a wall-mounted trolley-wipe dispenser on Sunday evening.

Several 999 calls were made after residents saw smoke billowing up the side of the building next to its entrance at 8.30pm.

Firefighters – based just next door – used a hosereel jet to snuff out the flames.

Closer examination of the scene revealed that the dispenser had caught alight.

Heat from the flames forced the installation off the wall and fall on to the ground where the flames then set alight plastic guttering.

Fire spokesman Bob Radford confirmed afterwards: ‘The potential was there for a serious incident.

‘If this had happened in the middle of the night it would have been much worse.’

He confirmed that suitable advice – in a written ‘handover form’ – had been left at the scene by the fire service.

‘It was an unusual fire,’ said Mr Radford.

Damage was minimal.

A Waitrose spokeswoman said on Wednesday: ‘We’re very grateful to the emergency services for their swift and expert response.

‘Thankfully, no customers or partners were hurt in the incident and when the trolley wipe dispenser is replaced it will be safely kept in the branch every evening.’

Witness Sheila Urwick said: ‘It looked like smoke was coming out of the roof eaves but in fact it was funneling up the wall. I called the fire service but they already knew about it.’