On arrival at the Texaco garage, in the early hours of Monday morning (September 7), crews confirmed that the fire involved a cash machine at the front of the store.
The cause of the fire was deliberate and believed to be the result of an attempted robbery.
Nigel Hosking, owner of Texaco Yelverton, said: ’The police were here when I turned up.
’There is smoke damage throughout, we managed to get the post office open, the only thing still closed is the petrol station because we need the electricians to rewire it.
’The shop front is completely kaput, there is not a pane of glass in tact. When I got here there were still two acetylene cylinders, the welding gas that they would have used to blow up the machine, lying on the forecourt.’
For the full story see this week’s Times.