ONLY three weeks after the devastating fire on Dawlish Warren seafront, arsonists have struck again.

This time the Station House, which has been standing by the railway for many years, was burnt down in the early hours of Sunday. Though a holiday home, fortunately the premises were not occupied, but such was the extent of the blaze the building has been totally destroyed and has been demolished.

Three fire appliances, one from Dawlish and two from Teignmouth, a water bowser and a 4 x 4 fire vehicle were called at 4.45am after reports of some trees on fire. When they arrived, it was not the trees, but the old Station Building that was engulfed in flames.

Firefighters used six sets of breathing apparatus and three jets of water which was provided by the street hydrant on Warren Road.

'We tried to contain it, but due to the severity of the fire and the construction of the building, which was mainly wood, it was beyond help,' said Ian Radford, the station officer in charge of fire fighting operations.

Cllr Ted Hockin went to try and help when he was told of the fire at 5am.

'By the time I arrived at the Warren, it was a smoking ruin,' said Cllr Hockin. 'Thankfully the fire was on the landward side of the railway and so did not prevent the thousands of people enjoying the beach on a superbly sunny day. I have no knowledge of how the fire started, but the perpetrators are both sick and stupid to destroy this building which has stood there since, I understand, the railway was built. I am saddened at the loss of this well known feature at Dawlish Warren.'

The Warren resort was open that morning and the only disruption was to the train service. The station was closed all day on Sunday, and re-opened on Monday at 10.30am to resume service. Until then, passengers were moved between stations via a minibus as trains could not stop there until it had been made safe.

It is believed the fire was started after entry was gained to the building by breaking a rear window.

Three youths have been arrested in connection with the fire. The teenagers, 14 and 16-year-olds from Dawlish and a 17-year-old girl from Exeter, were interviewed and released on police bail pending further enquiries. They have also been linked to the incident in which a JCB was taken for a joyride on Saturday night and hit a tree in Hente Avenue. They are also being questioned over the fire at the Warren Trading Company .

'I cannot comment fully at this stage on the matter as the fire is still under investigation,' said Teignmouth inspector, Andy Wagon. 'But it is a positive development in our enquiries into these serious fires.'

Meetings about the Warren Trading Company have been held with Mr Singh, the owner and his insurers/loss adjuster. Demolition was satisfactorily carried out and Mr Singh's shop site is now in a safe condition and able to be accessed by the public.

Building of new temporary trading premises will begin in the next couple of weeks and a marquee that will be used for trading is arriving today. Six containers will be used to hold stock during the summer.

Simon Broom, manager of the Trading Company said: 'My staff and myself are very keen to get this up and running as soon as possible and to start providing a service to the Warren.