FOUR cars damaged by fire in Ripon are being treated by North Yorkshire Police as arson.

Police in the city are also linking the attacks with three skip fires over the weekend.

The car fires started when a Citroen panel van was torched in Morrisons supermarket car park at about 6.30am on Sunday.

Flames soon spread to a red Citroen NT and a nearby Toyota MR2.

At about the same time residents in the Bedern Bank area were roused when a two-year-old Fiat Punto parked near a house was set on fire causing severe damage.

Police say they are linking the incidents with skips which were set ablaze in the early hours of Sunday. One was burning in Moss's Arcade near the car park fires, another was in Priest Lane and a third in a large industrial dustbin near the Wine Rack in Queen Street.

The latter blaze burnt out security lighting nearby.

A police spokesman said three people had been arrested and were helping with inquiries in connection with suspected arson incidents.