More than 1,000 deliberate fires were started across Shropshire in the last 12 months a rise of seven per cent on last year, new figures showed today.

Firefighters were called out to an average of nearly three suspected arson attacks a day and more than 70 more than the previous 12 months in total, the figures reveal.

And an ex-police sergeant who has been tasked with fighting fire crime in the county warned people’s lives were being put at risk by such fires with crews diverted from other incidents.

Derek Taylor, fire crime officer with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Any fire that’s started deliberately has the potential to cause serious damage to a building and can lead to the loss of life or a serious injury. While crews are dealing with these fires there could be a house fire and there could be a delay in getting to that or getting a crew to cover there.”

Last month fears were raised an arsonist was targeting Oswestry following attacks in the Swan Lane and Castlefields areas of the town, while in the Admaston area of Telford there have also been problems.

Mr Taylor said the fire service was working with police and other partner agencies to deal with such fires.

The fresh figures show the number of deliberate fires across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin fell by 28.4 per cent from 1,372 in 2007-08 to 983 in 2008-9, but rose by 7.2 per cent to 1,054 in the current financial year, which ended on Wednesday.

In the Wellington area, the number rose from 250 in 2008-9 to 257 in this financial year, while in Shrewsbury they rose from 198 to 217 over the same period. Oswestry has also seen a rise to 51, although last year there were 25 a fall on the 63 in 2007-8.

But Mr Taylor said despite the increases this year, there had been positive statistics in recent years with a large fall on figures from 2007-08 to 2008-9.

By John Kirk