caused $10,000 worth of damage early on Monday.

Four crews tackled the blaze in a Southampton flat for an hour before finally bringing it under control.

And fire investigators said the owners would have to find thousands of dollars to replace damaged furniture and restore charred walls after the blaze took hold just after 5 a.m.

A Fire Service spokesman said crews spent an hour and a half at the apartment in the Southampton Estate on Oceanside Road.

He said fire investigators believed the blaze started because of an electrical fault.

MOTORCYCLE THIEF FINED CTS Motorcycle thief fined A 21-year-old Smith's Parish man was fined $2,000 on Wednesday after admitting stealing two motorcycles.

Shane Todd, of Club Road, pleaded guilty to the charges that were read to him by Senior Magistrate Arthur Hodgson.

Prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor told the court that Todd took a Peugeot livery cycle, valued at $1,900, from outside a house on Camp Hill Road in Warwick on January 1 last year.

In the second incident, Sgt. Taylor said that, on February 14, Todd took a Suzuki motorcycle, worth $2,800, from outside a house in Warwick's Spring Hill.

TAXI CAB DAMAGED CRM Taxi cab damaged Warwick residents reported that a taxi parked outside their Spice Hill Road home was damaged and broken into on Tuesday night.

One of the residents returned home just after 2 a.m. on Wednesday and found the taxi's interior light on.

The front door was also unlocked, the front bonnet open, and the front and rear outside window rubbers damaged.

Several personal items were also stolen from the taxi.

Police are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has information to contact them in Hamilton on 295-0011, St. George's on 297-1122, or Somerset on 234-1010. The confidential Crime Stoppers hotline can also be accessed on 1-800-623-8477.