A MAN suffering from burns has been arrested following an early morning arson attack at a Tesco Express in West Brompton.

The emergency services descended on the store at the Esso petrol station in Fulham Road at around 4.40am this morning after staff discovered flames in the stock room.

Catastrophe was avoided as around 30 firefighters rushed to contain the fire, preventing it from spreading to the petrol pumps.

Four staff were working at the 24-hour shop when they heard noises coming from the store room.

Upon inspection they found smoke and flames, and quickly raised the alarm before fleeing the scene to safety.

Fulham Road was cordoned off by police until the fire was brought under control at around 7.20am.

Operations manager for Tesco, Michael Rainsford, said: "There were four staff working overnight when they heard some sort of bang in the back. They saw flames and instantly phoned the fire brigade. There were a number of appliances at the scene making sure that the fire didn't spread to the pumps, but it was under control just after 7am. At this stage we're unsure of the full extent of the damage as police and fire are still investigating. However we have been told the fire might have been started deliberately. It is also too early to tell how long the shop will be closed, it could be days or it could be weeks. It all depends on how much damage was sustained."

The fire is being treated as arson and police arrested a man in his 30s near the scene.

Suffering burns, he was taken to a central London hospital, where he will be questioned later.

His injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

No-one in the vicinity was evacuated.