An arson investigation is now underway following a fire at a car dealership in Preston.

Preston Police say the fire is now believed to have been started deliberately.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage was caused to Preston Motor Village in Southgate and Frank Street, Deepdale, off St George’s Road and North Road.

Around 150 cars were also damaged in the fire which started around 9pm on Friday (21 December).

At its peak more than 90 firefighters were tackling the fire, along with three aerial support units.

Around a dozen homes in St George’s Road and Kent Street were evacuated until around 2.30am on Saturday, along with the Masjid-e-Falah mosque in Kent Street.

Read more: Aerial pictures show the scale of the Frank Street fire

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service remained at the scene throughout Saturday and are continuing their investigation into the exact cause of the fire.

Preston Police want to speak to anyone who has mobile phone footage of the fire to make contact with them.

DC Andy Gill from Preston CID said: “This was a huge fire which has left two businesses devastated just before Christmas. We are treating the fire as arson and need anyone who may have seen anything or anyone acting suspicious in the area at the time to come forward.

“If you recorded the fire on your phone, we would like to speak to you and review the footage as it could be vital to our investigation.”

Read more: Watch as major fire rips through Deepdale car showroom

Anyone with footage or information can contact police on 101 quoting incident reference 1468 of 21st December. You can submit any footage online via ‎lancashire.police.uk/doitonline and selecting the ‘report a crime or incident’ option.