Warning over car fires

A spate of arson has broken out in Sussex, with fire crews called out to at least five such incidents in the last week.

On Sunday evening, a private car was wrecked by flames in Old Marsh Road, Pevensey. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus put out the blaze at about 7.40pm using a single hose reel.

Further west, a parked car was set alight in Plumpton Lane, Plumpton at about 10.30am, while in Phoenix Close, Hailsham, another car was left to the mercy of flames shortly before 8pm on Saturday.

Arsonists also targeted a vehicle parked in Old Swan Lane, Hailsham at around 10.40pm on Monday and the blaze had to be dealt with by the town's local retained fire crew using two hose reels. There was at least one further such call-out on Monday.

'Setting fire to cars is a very dangerous thing to do,' said a Fire Brigade spokesman. 'We take this matter very seriously, as we do all arson.

'It puts lives at risk, not only from the fire itself but also from the fact that it uses our firefighters' valuable time.

'If we received a report of a serious house fire in the area at the same time, we couldn't necessarily deal with it as quickly or efficiently as we might otherwise have done.'