AN ARSON attack on a Gwent vehicle recovery firm has caused up to £400,000 worth of damage, its owner says.

The blaze, at Walls Truck Services in Newport on Saturday, is being investigated by police, who say the cause is suspicious.

Now proprietor John Wall, who says the damage caused is valued at between £300,000 and £400,000, is thinking of putting up a £5,000 reward to help catch the culprits. "I'm gutted," said Mr Wall, whose family has run the vehicle recovery business in Newport since the 1930s.

Mr Wall, who has been in the firm since 1967, insisted: "This doesn't affect our operation at all. It's all fully insured."

The fire began on Saturday afternoon. Staff saw a vehicle shed full of smoke and called the fire service at 5.23pm.

No-one was hurt in the blaze which ruined an American-made Mack recovery vehicle, an AEC recovery vehicle, a Scania tractor unit and a Vauxhall Astra police car.

The vehicle shed was seriously damaged and a temporary office was reduced to ashes. "I'm thinking of making a substantial reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever did this," said Mr Wall.

"They could have hurt or killed someone. That makes me sick. It's lower than low." Mr Wall said he would decide about the award if no-one is arrested over the next few days.

The damage at Walls' yard would have been much worse had it not been for driver /mechanic Greg Murphy.

Greg, 35, rescued a £100,000 heavy recovery vehicle from a ramp just two metres away from a blazing shed where four vehicles were destroyed.

"I can't thank him enough for what he did," said John Wall. "When I arrived, flames were coming through the roof, the shed was engulfed in smoke and Greg had already moved the truck.

"Because of the airbrakes, he had to sit in the cab with the engine running for three or four minutes.

"He had to wait for the pressure to build up before he could move it. "The heat from the flames could have caught the paintwork on the truck and set it on fire. "If I'd been there at the time I'd have told him to leave the truck and get away."

Modest Greg, from Rogerstone, said: "There was a lot of smoke but I didn't think about it. I got the pressure up and reversed away from the fire."