Blyth arson spree: Beach huts and vehicles set on fire

Vehicles were set alight on two roads in Blyth

Three beach huts, a number of cars and a van have been set alight by arsonists who went on a rampage in a Northumberland town.

Firefighters and police in Blyth were called to the beach hut blaze at just after 23:00 GMT on Thursday.

While tackling these fires, crews were also diverted to deal with burning vehicles in Wellesley Drive and Grenville Road.

Northumbria Police said no-one was injured and the blazes were linked.

Three beach huts were seriously damaged

Police described the arson attack as "appalling"

Kate Busby, 31, said she heard two enormous bangs just after 02:00 when vehicles in her road were torched.

She said: "One man's van went up like a firework and he was trying to put it out with buckets of water - it's his livelihood.

"This was so close to houses and could have been catastrophic if it had escalated.

The colourful beach huts are a popular tourist attraction

"This was mindless vandalism and the whole thing was scary."

Insp Neil Hall of the Northumbria force said: "The events of last night and the behaviour of those responsible was absolutely appalling and totally unacceptable.

"We are committed to ensuring anybody found to have been involved is dealt with swiftly and robustly.

"With the nature of the fires, it is incredibly lucky that nobody was seriously injured."