Police hunt after arson attack on Kimpton home

POLICE are hunting an arsonist who endangered a family after a house was set alight with a blazing bin. The investigation was launched after a wheelie bin was set alight and pushed up against the front door of a house in High Street, Kimpton in the early

POLICE are hunting an arsonist who endangered a family after a house was set alight with a blazing bin.

The investigation was launched after a wheelie bin was set alight and pushed up against the front door of a house in High Street, Kimpton in the early morning attack on Monday August 3.

Four fire crews tackled the blaze during which they forced their way into the building and rescued two people.

The fire was so fierce it melted the plastic front door, a side window, damaged awnings and filled the house with smoke, in what householder Kim Minney says is the fifth attack in two years.

Mr Minney, who has lived in the house for 40 years which he shares with his stepmother and brother, thinks he is being persecuted because he keeps 14 dogs at the address.

He said: "It started just before Christmas last year - setting the bin alight. Five times we've been set alight. Even when the fires started the dogs didn't bark. I've lost my father and my partner - all I have left are my dogs and they are trying to take them away from me."

A spokesman for North Herts Homes said the housing association had made an inspection and were doing their best to rectify the damage.

Fire inspectors gathered evidence from the aftermath of the blaze and police are continuing investigations.