Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Officers carried out a hunt by using a chopper after a Ford Transit van was discovered on fire in the former mining village in Midlothian on Saturday evening.

The police helicopter was spotted in the night sky circling the area at around 10.30pm.

Police Scotland say they are treating the incident as deliberate and enquiries are ongoing.

A police spokesman said: "Police Scotland was made aware of a Ford Transit van which was found on fire off the B704 near Newtongrange around 10.30pm on Saturday, 17 May.

"The fire was extinguished by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

"Nobody was found within the van and a search was carried out of the surrounding area by officers, with support from the Police Scotland helicopter.

"The fire is believed to have been started deliberately and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances."

A Message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Joy Yates

Editorial Director

This is why police helicopter was spotted flying over Newtongrange last night