Firefighters fear an arsonist is on the loose after a spate of fires in an estate.

Crews from Sutton fire station have been called to fires in the Hulverston Close area of the Shanklin Estate four times since Sunday night - including twice within four minutes in the early hours of this morning.

So far the fires have been confined to bin storage areas but firefighters fear the fire bug's habits could escalate, putting lives at risk.

Sutton crew manager Steve Mills said: "It looks like we have an arsonist going around.

"So far all the fires have been away from people's property but this could just be the start of it and he or she could progress to more serious things.

"Also, each one of these incidents takes us around half an hour to deal with and it's possible that, while we're dealing with fires that have been started deliberately, there could be someone who genuinely needs our help."

The first incident, in which an abandoned sofa was set alight, happened shortly after 3.30pm on Sunday, May 5.

The arsonist then set fire to a wheelie bin in the early hours of Wednesday morning and two further wheelie bins shortly after 2am this morning.

If you have any information you can call police on 101 or the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Hulverston Close