In a bizarre incident that occurred yesterday at Kingston town centre in London, a 52-year-old man set fire to clothing in seven stores with the help of a lighter, which sparked off a police hunt for the incendiary, and led to his eventual arrest.

The attack, in which there were no casualties, led to the evacuation of all the Christmas shoppers from the all the stores across the town centre as London firefighters took over to put out the fire before the damage could spread. The police are linking the attack with the spate of store fires that occurred in Richmond on Monday.

The London Evening Standard reported that Bentalls shopping centre was evacuated for an hour, after a shirt was found to be on fire in clothing store Superdry just before 1pm. The incendiary reportedly set jumpers and a man’s suit on fire in Monsoon, then went on to carry out his bizarre act at two branches of Marks and Spencer, Gap, White Stuff and Reiss (CORR).

Marsha Thomas, who was working at Montezuma’s chocolate shop opposite Monsoon store at the time of the incident, said, “I saw a security guard come out with about six or seven jumpers on fire. He threw them on the floor and stamped the out. It was the most exciting thing I have seen while making truffles in a long time.”

Two shop assistants at Reiss, which was the final store to be attacked, allegedly saw the incendiary looking through the window at the burning clothing.

White Stuff’s store manager said that the damage of closing down the store in peak hours of Christmas shopping would reflect in their revenues. He said, “We were shut for over and hour and half during the busiest part of the shopping day in the run up to Christmas. It was a big financial hit. There were clothes damaged but the real money is lost revenue. The shop was completely full when we were forced to evacuate.”