Fire chiefs have welcomed a significant drop in the number of deliberately started blazes across Perthshire.
Latest figures show crews were called to 20 wilful fires between January and March, a third down on the same period last year.
An on-going campaign to clamp down on antisocial behaviour has been credited for the decrease.
Senior local fire officer for Perth and Kinross Colin Grieve said: “Although we have seen a reduction, we’re never complacent and will continue to work alongside our partners to do everything possible to prevent deliberate fires from occurring in the first place.
“Our firefighters have visited schools and youth groups across the region to highlight the risk of deliberate fire-setting and these interventions continue to show a positive outcome.”
He added: “A great deal of work has gone into identifying and addressing antisocial behaviour in our communities; no singular agency can reduce this on their own, so it is very much a partnership approach.”
The figures were part of the latest quarterly report submitted to councillors.
It also revealed that accidental house fires across the region had come down by about nine percent, with 31 such incidents recorded mostly caused by cooking mishaps.
Of these, only 17 of the premises had a smoke detector fitted.
There were more than 2,000 home safety visits carried out during the three month-period, which LFO Grieve said had helped reduced the number of casualties.
The biggest incident tackled by local crews during the timescale, was a massive blaze at Fishers Hotel in Pitlochry.
The fire, which was started accidentally by a stray firework, was one of 13 fires at non-domestic properties highlighted in the report.
Mr Grieve added: “Although this latest reduction is very welcome, we are absolutely determined to improve the safety and wellbeing of everyone in Perth and Kinross.
“A crucial part of this effort is our targeted home safety visits from partnership referrals which ensure we reach the most vulnerable in our community.”
He said: “As a result of this activity, we’ve seen a decrease in the number of accidental house fires reported and in the number of people consequently injured.”
