Homeless people's tents set alight in park

The fire is being treated as arson.

Tents belonging to homeless people have been burned to the ground at a Northumberland park.

Police launched an arson investigation over Wednesday's blaze at Tyne Green in Hexham.

Two tents that had been pitched at the park for more than a year were destroyed in the fire.

Homelessness teams from the Northumberland County Council had worked with occupants ahead of them reportedly leaving the site in recent weeks.

'No permission'

A council spokesman said the authority had been working with others to address a "small number" of tents that had been pitched in the park.

He said: "We want our green spaces to be attractive and for use by everyone, but camping is not allowed at any of our sites without our express permission.

"No such permissions were in place at Tyne Green and a number of concerns had been raised."

People living in the tents were asked to leave in December and have since done so, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.

The blaze was quickly extinguished by fire crews

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said officers and fire crews had been called to the park at around 0400 GMT on Wednesday.

The fire was quickly extinguished and police are now attempting to locate those responsible for it.