A CAR wash in St Neots was petrol-bombed last night, according to the police.

Firefighters were called to the Cool Water Hand Car Wash, in Huntingdon Street, at 10.40pm, after the waiting room of the car wash was set alight - causing aorun �5,000 damage.

Ana Nobre’s husband Rzgar Gareb opened the car wash in August 2010, she said the fire was started with the “intention of burning the business down to the ground.”

“We are in St Neots, it’s a quiet place and you don’t expect something like this. It’s just outrageous. They had the intention of burning it down.

“Do these people have a heart? Do they have a brain? I think not. They are just jealous because we are attracting loads of customers, and making a success.”

The inside of the car wash’s waiting room is burnt but Ana expects to be open by the end of the week. “We will be open in two or three days, we don’t want to lose our customers,” she said. “We’ve worked too hard for this to happen and we will not hide. They are the ones to hide, as the police are hunting them down.

“Some people sleep in the some car washes. The arsonists wouldn’t have known that so this could have been much worse than it is.”

“We are thankful for the woman living opposite the car wash who rang the fire service. It could have been a lot worse if she hadn’t have been aware. It could have spread to the warehouse our building is attached to.”

Officers are checking whether CCTV caught the incident on camera.

DC Becky Mainwood said: “This fire has caused extensive damage to the building and has stopped the car wash from operating.

“I would appeal for anyone who was in the area yesterday evening to consider if they saw anything at all suspicious. Any information could be very important to this investigation.”

INFORMATION: If you have any information about the fire call Cambridgeshire police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.