Police on trail of firebugs in spate of attacks

Firefighters tackled a spate of blazes between 8pm on Saturday and 8pm on Sunday, responding to six calls about burning vehicles and rubbish.

Crews attended Cavendish Road, Bradgate, at 8.15pm on Saturday, where one bin had been set alight.

Staff from Rotherham fire station attended a skip blaze on Moorgate Road at around 5.05am on Sunday morning.

They were called to another bin fire on the same street just ten minutes later and a fourth fire, involving two bins, on nearby Moorgate Chase at 5.30am.

Just half an hour later, shortly after 6am, Rotherham fire station responded again to a call from nearby Mountenoy Road, where two cars and one wheelie bin were ablaze.

Another bin was set alight on Woodlands Chase, Kimberworth park at about 8.30pm the same day.

A fire service spokesman said that all of the fires are being treated as deliberate.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police suggested that the Moorgate fires were of particular interest.

He said: “Police are currently investigating a number of fires in the Moorgate area of Rotherham, that they believe were started deliberately.

The fires were all started in the early hours of Sunday, March 3 on Moorgate Chase and Mountenoy Road, where wheelie bins have been set on fire causing damage to nearby properties and vehicles.”

Anyone with information on the blazes or who may have started them are asked to call police on non-emergency number 101, quoting incident number 248 of March 3, or telephone Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.