THREE people have been arrested on suspicion of arson endangering life following a fire in Castle Street, Cardigan.

They are a 42-year-old male, a 17-year-old male and a 16-year-old female, all from the Cardigan area.

The move follows an attack on the home of Garfield Davies’ family when the front of the property sustained damage after the blaze was started in a refuse bin outside.

Mr Davies, who lives at the address with his wife and two children, said afterwards that their lives had been saved by a smoke alarm.

Cardigan CID have been investigating the incident which saw a number of residents having to be evacuated in the early hours of Tuesday morning last week.

Police were called at around 3.45am to find members of the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service already on the scene.

They subsequently confirmed the fire that ruptured a mains gas supply as arson.

The front of one home on the street sustained damage after the blaze was started in a refuse bin outside the property.

The rupture of a mains gas supply lead to the evacuation of several homes.

Firefighters used a hose reel jet to extinguish the blaze and helped to disperse the gas until the arrival of the gas board, remaining at the scene until almost 5.30am.

Police, however, were still in the street over 11 hours later, after a 50-metre cordon was set up to allow forensic examinations to take place.

“Several properties were evacuated as a precaution, and thankfully no-one was injured,” said a Dyfed-Powys Police spokesman.

One local confirmed that residents living close to the targeted property were asked to leave their homes for a short period.

“With the fire having damaged the outside gas box, this had to be removed for safety reasons,” he added.

“The road had to be dug up to stop the gas getting into the house as a precautionary measure, though supplies to the rest of the street were unaffected.

“This was a really sad incident; not something you see in this sort of area - times are changing, Cardigan as well, unfortunately.”

Detective Inspector Richard Yelland said: “We know that there are a number of people in the area at the time the fire started and I would appeal to them to get in touch.”

Anyone with any information can contact police via 101, visit bit.ly/DPPReportOnline, or email: [email protected]