ARSONISTS have torched five cars in as many days in quiet residential streets – some just yards from their owners’ front doors.

Officers are thought to be linking the spate of attacks, the last of which occurred on Wednesday behind Beatrice Street, in Gorse Hill, when firefighters responded to a stolen car which had been abandoned and set ablaze at 1.30am.

Between 1.40am and 2.05am on Saturday morning there were three car fires within yards of where their owners’ live in Avening Street and Norman Road, in Gorse Hill, and Ipswich Street, Ferndale.

Then on Sunday at 3.15am another car, believed to have been stolen, was reported on fire in St Mark’s Recreation Ground, behind Beatrice Street.

Witness Matthew Titmuss, 39, said both Beatrice Street fires woke him in the early hours of the morning.

He said: “The first time I heard a loud bang, which woke me up, while the second time my son woke me up. I called the fire service both times.

“The flames were about 10ft high and you could hear crackling and popping. It was close to the fence and I was worried it could spread.

“It was stupid of whoever did it because if they got it wrong it would have blown up in their face and we could have had a death out there instead of a burnt out car.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Fire And Rescue said the cause of the fires were thought to be deliberate.

She said: “All five fires appeared to have started in the driver or front passenger areas of the vehicles, with the internal fittings set ablaze.

“Most of the cars were totally destroyed by fire and crews determined each of them was likely to have been started deliberately and informed the police.

“It is unclear how the fires were started or what if anything was used as an accelerant.”

PC Stacey McGarry, the community beat manager for Gorse Hill, said: “We are treating these five separate incidents as being possibly linked and are stepping up patrols in the area.

“We will be actively patrolling and conducting stop searches.

Anyone with any information should contact Pc McGarry on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.