Edinburgh residents evacuated in middle of the night after Leith salon set on fire deliberately

Firefighters tackled the blaze at the Belle Cheveux salon in Albert Street after they were called to the scene at around 2.30am on Thursday.

No one was injured in the blaze but surrounding properties were evacuated to ensure residents’ safety and a police cordon is now in place. A witness said: “Police were still there at around 10am this morning and it looks like they’re there to prevent anything else happening because the windows are all smashed.

“The street has been taped off and there’s a burnt out object sitting on the pavement, but I’m not sure what exactly it is.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said the fire is being treated as wilful. She said: “We were called at around 2.30am on Thursday, March 6, to a report of a fire at a premises on Albert Street in Edinburgh.

Police are treating the fire as "wilful" | National World

“Emergency services attended and the fire was put out by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. No one was injured but adjacent properties were evacuated as a precaution.

“The fire is being treated as wilful and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said four appliances rushed to the salon. He said: "We were alerted at 2.30am on Thursday, March 6 to reports of a fire within a ground floor premises in Edinburgh.

"Operations Control mobilised four appliances to the city's Albert Street, where firefighters extinguished the fire and worked to make the area safe. There were no casualties."