Halifax pharmacy petrol-bombed

West Yorkshire Police has issued an appeal for information following an arson at a pharmacy in Halifax.

The incident happened at Heath Pharmacy in the early hours of Friday (3 January).

Police said officers were called by the Fire Service to a report of a fire at the premise on Free School Lane at around 2.25am.

Visuals captured by security camera show two suspects smashing a front window before setting fire to the inside.

They then returned to a vehicle and drove along Free School Lane in the direction of Halifax, the police added.

The premises suffered minimal damage, but no one is injured.

"Luckily we have quite a large floor mat and it soaked up most of the petrol and stopped it spreading further so the fire was concentrated in a small area,” the pharmacy manager Amanda Smith told Yorkshire Evening Post.

The community has rallied behind the pharmacy, which has been on the premises since 1895, following the attack, Smith added.

"We have been overwhelmed by the messages of support from our customers.Our staff all came in early to clean and ensure we could open as usual at 9am.

"Pharmacies provide a vital health service to their local communities and we were determined to make sure we continued to provide that service and ensure no one went without medication."

So my dads pharmacy was petrol bombed last night. What has the world come to? The staff are amazing. Always there to give 100% and serve the community whatever the situation. People really don’t value their community pharmacies enough. https://t.co/t1sqgIBIJP

— Adam Wilkinson (@cllrawilkinson) January 3, 2020

Detectives are appealing for anyone with information or anyone who witnessed a dark-coloured saloon vehicle driving in the area to contact police.

Information can be passed to Calderdale CID on 101 or by using the online 101 chat, quoting crime reference 13200003109.