A FIRE in a market town centre may have been started deliberately, fire crews believe.

Crews from Malton and Pickering were called to deal with the blaze that started at a commercial premises in Yorkersgate, Malton, shortly after 3pm on Saturday.

Before firefighters could bring it under control, the flames spread to the homes in the upper part of the building.

A fire spokesperson said the premises were at Rogers Mews, adding: β€œIt looks like there was some deliberately ignited cardboard.”

The spokesperson stressed however that it has not been confirmed at this stage whether the fire was definitely deliberate.

They added that the fire has left damaged electrical cabling to the outside of the building.

On the same day, fire crews from Thirsk and Kirkbymoorside were called to deal with a large fire in a beet field on the road to Rievaulx.

A fire spokesperson said the field was 600m by 300m.

A possible cause in this instance was a BBQ cylinder found on site.

Two fire engines attended and were on the scene until around 8pm.