Cars set on fire in Darwen

A white Volkswagen Polo, blue Ford Focus and a blue Audi A3 were set ablaze in Frederick Street and the flames threatened to spread to a house.

Two fire engines and crews, from Darwen and Bamber Bridge, were sent at 4.45am and firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus used three hosereel jets to extinguish the fire.

Zandra Campbell, 34, who is the owner of the Audi A3 and lives with her six-year-old son, said: "I was supposed to go on holiday this week for my son's birthday but I can't now.

"The car is a right mess if it wasn't for my dog barking to wake me up I don't think me or my child would of been here now."

Inside the white Volkswagen Polo around £400 worth of goods, including an iPod and a Sat Nav, were burnt.

Samantha Hewitt, 24, who is the owner of the Volkswagen Polo and has lived on Frederick Street her whole life, said: "I didn't hear anything outside the house.

"It was the woman across the road who rang me. She said I needed to get out of the house because my car was on fire.

"I was told by the neighbours there were bangs which I think came from the fire within the car.

"There are normally more parked cars on the street but only three were there for some reason. If there were more cars on the street it could have been a lot worse.

"The rescue man said that people were pouring stuff on the cars but I don't know what. Mine was the last car that was put on fire.

"The front of the front door to where I live was also melted.
Samantha, who only bought her car in May 2017, said the incident has caused her more of an inconvenience than anything else.

The IT worker said: "The car has already been salvaged I should be able to get an insurance claim.

"There seems to have been a lot of break ins in the town this month as well as people's cars stolen and now burnt out.

"There should be more police presence on the streets but there can't be due to government cuts to public services.

"It's not not the fault of the police or the public service because it's outside of their control."

The were no casualties and the cause of the fire is under investigation, the fire service said.