Thirty-five firefighters tackled a fire at a cottage in Wantage thought to have been started by arsonists.

Police officers from Wantage police station were first on the scene after fire broke out in Belmont Cottage, Belmont, at 2.45am today. They forced their way in, fearing someone was trapped inside, but owners Linda and Joel Parmentier are believed to be in France and the cottage was empty. Firefighters from Wantage, Didcot and Abingdon tackled the blaze, which gutted the ground floor of the three-storey cottage and caused smoke damage to the upper floors.

Thames Valley Police, who are investigating the arson, were today trying to locate Mrs Parmentier -- former chairman of Wantage Chamber of Trade and her husband -- a former restaurateur. A spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire Service said firefighters were at the scene for three hours. He said: "The fire has caused severe damage to the ground floor. There was no-one in the house at the time and efforts are now being made to contact the owners."

Sgt Simon Morris, based at Wantage Police Station, said: "Scenes of crime officers are now at the scene to establish if the fire began accidentally or if a crime has been committed."

Neighbours whose homes over look the damaged house said they were sound asleep when the fire broke out.

Marjorie Collier said she was woken by the noise of the fire engines. She added: "I didn't know anything until I heard the fire engine sirens. I looked out of my window and just saw smoke, I didn't see flames. The firemen told us to close all our windows because of the smoke."

Jean Jones added: "We were asleep and didn't know anything until the firemen arrived."