Jade Pharmacy in Hounslow, London has been left badly damaged following a "hugely dangerous" break-in and suspected arson attack on Boxing Day.

The entire contents of the controlled drugs cabinet were stolen from the pharmacy on Heston Road, before a fire swept through the premises on the morning of December 26.

The fire brigade spent an hour tackling the blaze, but could not limit damage to the dispensary, which was completely burnt out.

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	Suraj Varia, co-owner of Jade Pharmacy, said he believed burglars had started the fire in an attempt to cover their tracks. He branded the incident a "pure act of vandalism" and "attack on the local community".

"I got a call on the morning of Boxing Day to say the fire brigade had turned up to the premises and, when the investigation team came down, we subsequently found they had broken in [and] stolen all the contents of the controlled drug cabinet," Mr Varia told C+D.

"Everything has been damaged completely, so we won't be able to salvage anything from it," he said. "I think, in an attempt to cover up their tracks and the evidence, they set fire to the dispensary where the CCTV was."

But Mr Varia said he could not understand how the offenders managed to enter the pharmacy. "Our premises were all alarmed as normal, so I don't know what the perpetrators did – whether they messed around with the alarm system or what," he said.

Hounslow Police reported the arrest of a male suspect, but said enquiries were ongoing and they were still looking for witnesses.

Pharmacies should take the incident as a warning, said detective sergeant Stuart Smoult of Hounslow Police.

"Luckily [the neighbouring flats] were unoccupied at the time but the consequences could have been hugely dangerous," Mr Smoult said."A general note of warning should go out to all pharmacies due to the nature of the prescriptions that they sometimes hand out to people."

Prescriptions are being dispensed from Jade Pharmacy's two other branches in the area and a free home-delivery service is also available.