Police say fire at B&B started deliberately

POLICE believe a fire that gutted a disused Midlothian bed and breakfast was started deliberately.

Fire crews spent several hours extinguishing and damping down the fire at the former Three Acres B&B in Whitehill, near Dalkeith.

The building was well alight when fire crews arrived at around 12:15pm yesterday, and at its height the fire required three pumping appliances and three special operations appliances.

The building was unoccupied.

A police spokesman confirmed that they are treating the blaze as suspicious.

Meanwhile an asthmatic woman required medical attention after her washing machine caught fire and filled her house with choking black smoke.

The 43-year-old was treated for slight smoke inhalation following the fire in the kitchen of her Granton Crescent flat at around 11:30pm on Saturday night.

Fire crews removed the flaming appliance and called for an ambulance to treat the woman.