Two town shops were the victims of attempted arson attacks over the weekend.

Police say a lit cigarette was pushed through the letterbox of School Days, the school uniform shop in Church Street, at around 9.30am, last Friday.

The cigarette set fire to a letter on the shop floor but luckily a member of the public alerted the shop assistant, who extinguished the fire.

Between 4pm last Saturday and 9am on Monday a lit cigarette was pushed through the letterbox of Nova Dry Cleaning, also in Church Street.

The cigarette burnt a small hole in the doormat but didn't cause any other damage.

Phil Lee, the owner of School Days, said: "It's very worrying when this kind of thing happens and I think we need more of a police presence in the town centre."

Police officers are investigating CCTV footage to identify the offenders.

Sub officer Bob Williams, at Bromsgrove Fire Station, said: "Arson prevention is very important and we work closely with the police in our campaigns. We have made visits to unoccupied shops to make sure post is cleared but with regards to occupied shops, we ask owners and members of the public to remain vigilant.

"The key is to try and avoid having combustible material around the letterbox. If people are concerned they can put a cage around the letterbox."

Joanne Hammond, of Bromsgrove police, said: "An arson attack can be very worrying and this incident could have been much worse.

"It was fortunate there was a vigilant member of the public nearby."