Peterborough bin fires: Public meeting held for residents

Four large wheelie bins in a storage area were damaged at Eagle Way, Hampton, Peterborough

A public meeting has been held to "re-assure" households after a spate of arson attacks on city residents' bins.

On Tuesday, about 50 people in Hampton, Peterborough voiced their concerns with the fire service, police and city councillors.

People said they felt "anxious and worried it could end badly" after six bin fires since May.

Det Insp Mike Jackman from Cambridgeshire Police said "it was a positive meeting".

In one of the more serious incidents, bins were set alight in Silver Hill in Hampton Hargate in the early hours of 8 November and the blaze spread near to gas mains, leading to about 30 people being evacuated from their homes.

Conservative councillor for Hampton Vale, Marco Cereste, said "something needs to be done".

"We must not undervalue the seriousness of these incidents. These bin stores that are being set on fire are normally stored under block of flats and if it gets out of hand it could lead to serious loss of lives," he said.

"The meeting was well attended but residents are very upset. I would ask them to keep reporting anything suspicious. We all need to work together to tackle this issue."

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had been difficult to identify the cause of some of the four fires in Hampton

Det Insp Jackman said the force was "carrying out more active patrols in the area".

"We have got a dedicated team looking at this and we are trying to find out who did it and bring them to justice. We are also looking at a preventative approach," he said.

"We want to work with public, knock on doors. We want people to feel safe. We want people to look out windows and see a local policing presence in the area."

The police said they were working with Neighbourhood Watch teams and were relying on them to be their "eyes and ears" and encourage reporting of anything suspicious.

Alan Paul Neighbourhood watch chair said: "People wanted reassurances which police provided last night. But they are still quite anxious.

"We are doing local training and encouraging more people to join the neighbourhood watch. so we can help police fight this."