Councillor's car set on fire outside Strathaven home

A councillor who woke up to find his car on fire believes he was targeted because of his work.

South Lanarkshire councillor Graeme Campbell told BBC Scotland he thinks the incident is linked to a planning case he has been working on for 18 months.

The fire service was called to the councillor's Strathaven home in the early hours of Monday morning.

A spokeswoman confirmed the fire was being treated as wilful.

Mr Campbell, who was elected in 2007 to represent the ward of Avondale and Stonehouse in South Lanarkshire, told the BBC Scotland news website that he and his wife, Fiona, were woken up at about 01:15 on Monday morning by knocking on his front door.

'Glad to be alive'

A teenager who was passing by had spotted that his wife's car was on fire and that the fire was about to spread to the house.

The car was burnt out and damage was also caused to another car on the drive and to the garage.

Mr Campbell said his family were "glad to be alive", and praised the teenager for waking them up.

Ms Campbell said she could feel the heat from the flames as soon as she came out the front door.

"At first I thought it could have been an electrical fault or something," she said. "But at that point I just wanted to get the fire brigade here and get it put out before something else happened, before the car blew up."

'Bullying at the worst level'

Mr Campbell believes he knows who was behind the attack. He said: "I'm not surprised. I'm angry more than surprised. I've got an idea that it's linked to a case I've been involved in as a local councillor, a planning case for the last 18 months.

"There has been sadly another constituent had their car burnt out back in 2018.

"If I walked away I'd be leaving families to the mercy of these guys - I just couldn't walk away from them in fear.

"Clearly they're trying to give me a message to shut up and take this no further."

He said he wanted to "take stock" of the situation with his wife, adding: "Whoever did this should not get away with it. This is bullying at the worst level - it could have cost us our lives last night, and that's the scariest thing."

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: "Around 01:25 on Monday 20 May 2019, police were called to a report of a car on fire outside a property in Fortrose Gardens, Strathaven.

"Emergency services attended and fire had caused extensive damage to the car, as well as another vehicle in the driveway and the garage.

"The incident is being treated as wilful and enquiries are ongoing."