ARSONISTS are being sought after £10,000 worth of vehicles went up in flames in Teignmouth over the weekend.

Three cars and a van were destroyed at a car park in Kingsway, all of them thought to belong to residents living nearby.

It’s suspected the van was the sole target of the offenders who struck some time after 3am on Sunday.

The heat from the blazing vehicle caused it to run down the slope of the small car park into the trio of motors which soon burst into flames.

Police were called by the resort’s firefighters amid suspicions the van had been deliberately torched.

Fire spokesman Ian Radford said: ‘The heat from the blazing vehicles was very intense. The fire had been going for some time.’

He added: ‘It was a protracted job because there was lots of fuel and burning rubber. It was all quite fierce. We were there for nearly two hours.’

The fire service said it received multiple calls about the incident from 3.49am onwards in the early hours of Sunday.

Two sets of breathing gear were worn as a hosereel jet and compressed air foam jet were used to knock out the flames.

A spokesman confirmed: ‘This was believed to be a deliberate ignition.’

Police are investigating the incident.

Anyone with information about the matter should contact them on 101 or use the confidential Crimestoppers facility on 0800 555111.