THE owners of a haulage company have been left stunned following a £1 million arson attack on their premises which saw six lorries and five trailers destroyed.

The alarm was raised by a woman who rang 999 after hearing several explosions at around 7.30pm on Saturday at AET Transport Service’s premises, in Black Hill Road, Holton Heath, between Poole and Wareham.

“The tyres were blown off the wheel hubs, a few of the fuel tanks exploded and there were aerosol cans exploding,” said investigating officer at Dorset Fire and Rescue Andy Fox.

“One of the lorries was full of fire extinguishers which explode in a fire and were a hazard to our crews.”

On Sunday a pale and shaken Andrew Trotter, who owns the firm with wife Sally, said they were “devastated” at what had happened.

The firm is a specialist factory relocation business which he ran with his father until he passed away three years ago.

Mr Trotter said: “There was a trailer stolen and it looks like they’ve set fire to some other vehicles.

"Personally I’m devastated. We are only a small company with just one depot."

• See your Daily Echo for the whole story and more pictures…