Auckland petrol station hit by firebug overnight

CCTV footage showed the man attempted to light multiple fires. Photo / Supplied

A petrol station owner has been left shaken and upset, after an unknown man attempted to light fires and damage his petrol pumps.

GAS Swanson owner-operator Chaudhry Zahid arrived at work this morning to find the damage, and quickly checked his CCTV footage.

The cameras showed a tall caucasian man on the station forecourt around 4am, spending 30 minutes lighting fires at the pump, and damaging the pump screens.

Zahid said if the fires had worked it would have been "very bad", as there was 25,000 litres of petrol in the station tanks at the time.

CCTV footage showed the man attempted to light multiple fires. Photo / supplied.

He hadn't seen the man before.

"He first came around 4 o'clock and he pulled off all the nozzles and threw them on the floor.

"Then he tried to break the nozzles, hitting them on the safety bars beside the pumps.

"Then he puts the nozzles on the floor and tries to light a fire over them. You can see the fire. Then he puts a cigarette lighter close to the nozzle, then even inside."

Zahid said he'd called the police to report it. He'd also put the photos on Facebook after a customer suggested it.

"A customer came and I showed him, because I was very upset this morning. He gave me the idea, he said maybe someone will know him.

"Because he tried to set a fire, you can see him make many tries, with the fires on the floor and fires inside the nozzle."

Zahid said he'd never had something like this happen before, and didn't have any arguments with customers.

He said he hoped people would recognise the man, and help make sure something like this wouldn't happen again.

A police spokesperson said they received a report of wilful damage at the petrol station at 9.26am.

An investigation is now underway.