Sparrow's cigarette caused shop blaze
April 27th 2009 A cigarette loving sparrow is being blamed for a fire that caused £250,000 of damage to a shop in Lincolnshire.
Paul Sheriff, 48, who runs Crescent Stores in Leasingham, was initially at a loss as to what caused the blaze, reports Metro.
But six weeks on, insurance investigators have told him that they discovered 35 cigarette ends in the roof.
They came to the conclusion that a sparrow must have picked up a smouldering butt to feather its nest in the roof's eaves, causing the blaze.
Non-smoker, Mr Sheriff commented: "The shop was a total mess. All the suspended ceilings came down, all the electrics were down, all the fridges were broken, it was horrendous."
A spokesman for his insurance company said: "We believe it's the first case of its kind we've ever had to deal with. We had to bring in a specialist to investigate.
'I've certainly never come across this sort of thing before. It's strange to think how such a little bird armed with such a small object could cause such chaos."
More articles from HSM News Desk: | 
