Residents have expressed their fear after a suspected arson attack at a block of flats in South Ham.

Police say that the fire is believed to have been started inside one of the flats on St Peter's Road, at the junction with Charles Street on Sunday morning.

Residents were forced to evacuate whilst emergency services dealt with the incident, which started at around 3.45am.

A 54-year-old man was taken into custody by police after the incident. 

One resident of the block of flats said: “He set his flat on fire. I should have got evacuated, but I didn’t wake up!

“Other residents got sent out about four o’clock. They were shouting out to me, and the fire brigade were banging on my door. I couldn’t hear a thing of it.

“I found out about it Sunday morning when I went down to the garden for a fag.”

The resident said that firefighters knocked out the loft door in the hallway ceiling and used a ladder to push through it and extinguish the flames.

“If they hadn’t of done that, this building wouldn’t still be here today,” he said.

“My personal thought is he is the biggest prat you could ever come across and he was asking for it. So whatever he gets, he bloody well deserves it.

“I was terrified, I was frustrated. For someone to do a thing like that, and it could have been a hell of a lot worse. It was stupidity.

“It worries me big time. I am terrified of him because I don’t know what his capabilities are.”

However, the resident said that the one good thing to come out of the situation, is that the community has come together more closely.

“The neighbours around here are fantastic, I love them all. Because of all of this happening, all the neighbours are getting closer, to make sure that we are all alright."

Another neighbour, on Charles Street, said: “I looked out the window and saw fire engines and lights. They didn’t even wake us to tell us there was a fire!”

A resident on St Peter’s Road added: “It was really early. My daughter got woken up by the fire engine and my husband was working the night shift and told me there were fire engines and an ambulance outside, but I didn’t see or hear anything else.”