A fire chief has this week issued reassurances following a surge in deliberate fire-setting across Dumfries and Galloway.
Craig McGoldrick, a local senior officer with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, insisted that this region is still one of the safest places to live in the country, despite a steady incline to 196 deliberate blazes being started last year.
North West Dumfries was a hotspot for arson, with an average of 6.5 incidents recorded every month.