A family were woken up in the early hours of Monday morning to find firefighters frantically tackling three car fires which had been started deliberately.

The Comet: Firefighters spent two hours getting the blaze under control.Firefighters spent two hours getting the blaze under control. (Image: Archant)

Fire crews were called to Sleaps Hyde in Stevenage at around 3am after arsonists set a Mercedes Sprinter van, a silver Hyundai and a blue Renault ablaze.

Wendy Ward lives in the street and had been sleeping but woke up to see a mass of flames engulf the vehicles.

“I heard a noise so I got up and saw that there was a fire engine parked straight across the front of my house. There were firefighters running all around so I went upstairs and looked out of the window.

“When I looked out I saw a mass of flames. They were really high and lit up the whole road like a football stadium. It was quite a while before the police turned up. The firefighters were there for about two hours putting everything out. ”

Wendy’s hedge was burnt by the fire and she said when she stepped out of the door on Tuesday morning all she could smell was burned rubber.

She added: “It was so hot it melted the Tarmac and ruined the pavement which needs to be cleared up. Before they took the cars away on Tuesday morning the whole street was a complete mess.

“There’s been a sniffer dog out here since and I’ve seen police officers looking along the road.

“I don’t know why anyone would do something like this but I think it was a terrible thing to do and they should be caught as soon as possible.”

Police are appealing for anyone who saw anything or has information about the crime to get in touch with them.

Investigating officer Quentin Lane from the Stevenage crime unit said: “Did you hear or see any suspicious activity or know who was responsible? I would appeal to anyone who may have any information about these fires to contact me as soon as possible.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101.