A MIDDLEWICH businessman has been the victim of an arson attack for the second time in a month - causing almost £10,000 worth of damage.

Firefighters attended the blaze at a property owned by David Latham, of DJ Latham Properties, in Hightown, shortly before 6pm on Sunday.

They were called to an outbuilding containing building equipment at the back of Tim's Gents Hair Shop and the former Beauty Fix.

A fire service spokesman said: "It was deliberate ignition - someone had broken the lock to gain access to the building.

"The fire was well alight when we arrived and it took two pumps to extinguish it. It could quite easily have spread to the other buildings.

"This is the second time in a month that the outhouses have been targeted."

Shajal Chowdhury, from Indian Cheshire Restaurant, says his nine-year-old brother Saim saw something being thrown at the building before it set on fire.

The 21-year-old said: "My little brother saw something being thrown, presumably a petrol bomb. If we hadn't reported it immediately it would definitely have spread to the restaurant."

Mr Latham said: "I'm absolutely sick of this happening in Middlewich. I've owned these properties for about five years and this is the second fire in four weeks. My buildings were burgled two years ago and a few weeks back somebody stole the security grills from one of my shops."

He added: "From my point of view it's getting ridiculous. The fire last month caused an awful lot of damage. We managed to save that building, but it's still going to cost about £5,000 to repair."This second fire has totally destroyed the building and we're still assessing the rebuild cost which will be between £4,000 to £5,000 as well. I'm devastated and very angry and sometimes I feel like taking things into my own hands."

Det Sgt Chris Pyatt, from the borough's neighbourhood policing unit, confirmed the incident was suspicious and urged anyone who witnessed the incident to ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.