11 cars are set alight in Sheffield in arson spree

Thousands of pounds of damage has been caused, with several of the vehicles almost completely destroyed. Damaged cars on Herries Road The incidents happened on Herries Road, Barrie Crescent and Morgan Road between 11.30pm on Friday night and around 2am this morning.

Among those whose vehicles were targeted were couple Steve and Susan Booth, whose Ford Focus which they have only had since May was attacked.

The vehicle was parked just a few yards from their front door. Mr Booth said their car was attacked shortly before midnight.

“We just heard a big bang,” he said. Two of the vehicles that were attacked

“When I came out the fire brigade were already there. They told me to go back inside and we had to wait. “It was a nightmare, the car was totally burnt.

“I’m hoping it will be covered on insurance but I don’t know if it covers arson. These people don’t realise what they have done.”

An Audi was set alight on Barrie Crescent He said police officers had told them the situation could have been even worse if the fire had spread to their property. The police said this is so close to the house it could have been a totally different scenario,” he said. “If the car had exploded, who knows what would have happened?”

Kirsty Smith, who lives on Barrie Crescent, said she had also heard a ‘loud bang’ at around 12.30am in another incident.

A van was attacked on Morgan Road “There were loads of police and firefighters and they closed Morgan Road off,” she said. “About an hour later it was like a ghost town.” A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We attended reports of a car fire on Herries Road at about 11.30pm. “When we attended we had got a total of nine cars involved. “Through the night, we had a total of 11 car fires within two square miles of Herries Road. “All the vehicles received similar damage to the front end or rear end but no car was totally gutted. One of the attacked cars on Herries Road “The initial call was 11.30am and we were there until 1am this morning. Then we received a further car fire at 1.40am.”

Police said vehicles ‘were set alight by means of an accelerant being sprayed to the rear of the vehicles’. A spokesman for the force said: “Our initial enquiries have not yet identified an offender. If you witnessed the incidents or have information that would lead officers to identify those responsible please contact South Yorkshire Police on the non-emergency number 101 quoting incident reference 1328 of October 7.”