Gardaí are investigating after two hapless criminals on a bizarre crime spree set fire to a take-away.

It is understood one of the men suffered severe burns and self-inflicted knife injuries during the incident on O'Connell Street in Dungarvan, Co Waterford.

The dramatic events unfolded around 2am on Sunday after staff at the take-away reported finding a burning handbag in the toilets.

It is believed workers identified the two men who they thought to be responsible and contacted the gardaí after a brief altercation.

The pair, who are in their late teens and early 20s, fled the scene before gardaí arrived.

However, they returned shortly after 7am in a bid to "take their revenge" following the earlier row.

Shortly after breaking in, the men turned on fryers and grills and started cooking burgers and other food before causing some minor damage to the property.

While one of the men was cooking, the other reportedly took a large knife that he used to try to pry open a jukebox in a bid to get the money locked inside.

But in his haste, the man slipped and injured himself with the blade.

"When one lad saw the other had been cut, he made a run for it and left his pal at the scene spewing blood," revealed a source.

A blaze then took hold of the premises, caused by the unattended fryers, leaving the injured man trapped inside.

A passer-by called the emergency services after seeing smoke.

The injured man was taken to hospital.

Gardaí are hunting for the second suspect.

Irish Independent