Littlehampton residents battle blaze after arson

The fire was set in the garden of a home in Manning Road, just after 8pm. The flames spread rapidly and threatened to damage nearby properties, an eye witness has said.

Perry Moore, 24, was staying with his sister in nearby West Road, when he was alerted to the blaze.

“I could hear kids running and screaming. The next minute I could see this flash of fire.

“I started running to other houses warning them.

“The flames were pretty big, there was a whole bush and some large trees on fire. I was scared it was going to spread to the houses.”

Mr Moore, of Decoy Drive, Angmering, said he knocked on the door of and elderly man, whose garden was on fire.

“He didn’t know that the back garden was on fire,” he added. “The poor guy tried to get his hose out and I said ‘you’ve got no chance’.”

Mr Moore said he helped the man drag his garden furniture away from the blaze while they waited for the fire service to arrive.

Firefighters from Littlehampton were on scene shortly afterwards. They were joined by colleagues from the nearby East Preston station.

Together, officers combined and used a total of four high-pressure hoses to quell the flames before leaving the scene at 8.53pm.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said that officers believed the blaze was sparked deliberately.

She added that police are looking into the incident – although this has yet to be confirmed by Sussex Police, who are expected to be issuing a statement later today.

However, anyone with any information about the blaze can call the force’s non-emergency number of 101 or independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously, by ringing 0800 555 111.