The arsonist who fired eleven rubbish hoppers in Motril in one night has reportedly been caught, red-handed, with the intent of torching another hopper.

The 51-year-old suspect, who is actually an Almuñequero, was caught with fire accelerants and other inflammable material.

The material destroyed during his rampage cost the municipal coffers around 1,000 euro per hopper.

The Head of the Policia Local in Motril, José Manuel Rodríguez Torres, explained how the police had followed the usual route that these sort of vandalic acts take, usually ending up in the Barrio de Huerta Carrasco, which was where they came across the man, who fled as soon as he saw the policemen.

They soon caught up with him and upon searching him found the incriminating articles.

The torching of rubbish hoppers is a sadly reoccurring event in Motril: in the first days of January four were burnt and then on the 10th, eleven of them. During 2016 a total of 28 hoppers were written off or damaged by fire, totalling some 25,000 euros counting the purchase of new hoppers and the repair of those salvageable.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)