A BLACKPOOL councillor has condemned arsonists who set fire to a block of flats in Grange Park at the weekend.

Councillor Les Kersh for Park Ward said vandals who deliberately started a blaze in flats on Easington Crescent on Sunday evening (June 3) could easily have killed somebody, and that the matter should be taken "very seriously".

Six flats were wrecked by fire, smoke and water in the blaze, with shop units below also affected. Although the burnt-out flats were empty at the time of the fire, they are adjacent to properties which are still occupied, said Coun Kersh.

He said: "It looks bad, the roof has gone completely. You can see the massive hole."

The vandals should be held accountable for their actions, he added. "There were seven units still in use -- people were actually in there when it happened. People's lives are at risk. It should be taken very seriously," he said.

Fire crews from the Blackpool area, including aerial ladder platform operators, were called to the scene at 5.40pm on Sunday, and officers wearing breathing apparatus made a search of the maisonettes.

Frank Murphy, assistant divisional officer for Lancs Fire and Rescue Service, was officer in charge at the scene. He said: "We were there until about 10pm. No fire is straight forward, but we had a complicating measure because we were unsure whether there were persons involved inside the building."

The search revealed the flats were empty, and no-one was injured in the fire which an investigation by fire officers confirmed was started deliberately.

Assessors visited the council-owned flats on Wednesday, and it is understood the council will wait for the report before deciding what to do with the building.

The council had been moving tenants out of the block over the last nine months, as plans for the building's future were still under discussion.