POLICE were last night investigating a suspicious fire that broke out in Darlington Indoor Market.
The fire was started in the men's toilets at the back of the market shortly after 9am yesterday.
Fire crews from Darlington who attended the scene evacuated shoppers and stallholders from the area as a safety precaution due to the large amount of smoke created by the fire.
A spokesman at Darlington Fire Station said it appeared someone had set fire to a plastic toilet roll holder.
He said: "The holder had a plastic cover and once that caught fire there was quite an amount of smoke generated by the plastic.
"We evacuated the market purely as a safety precaution. It looked like the fire had been started deliberately."
Police are investigating security cameras footage in the Market Place in an attempt to find the culprit.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Darlington Police station on (01325) 467681 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.
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