AN ELDERLY man says he finds it hard to sleep at night because five fires have been started in the past year in a communal building by his back door.

Cliff Hughes found himself trapped inside his Colchester home by smoke and flames from the most recent fire, in rubbish dumped in nearby bin store.

Two fire crews were called to the bin store in Enville Way, in the Highwoods area, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

They spent about 20 minutes putting out a fire in the shed.

Mr Hughes, 74, said the experience he had left him badly shaken.

He said: “I was woken up early in the morning by someone knocking on my bathroom window.

“It was my neighbour, telling me there was a fire, so I got dressed and when I went to leave my flat through the front door, I couldn’t get out because of all the flames.”

Mr Hughes had to wait several minutes while firefighters got the flames under control before he could finally emerge from the house.

He added: “It has happened so many times. People leave all sorts of junk in there and then youngsters or whoever they are, just set light to it.

“An old TV had been dumped there and it made a terrible bang as it caught fire and exploded.”

Graham Broom, from PMS Leasehold Management, which manages the site, said the problem was down to the fact residents were putting ordinary rubbish in the clear sacks provided by Colchester Council for waste which was to be recycled, such as plastic bottles.

He explained: “When the binmen come to take the clear sacks away, they see they are full of rubbish, such as last night’s pizza, and they leave them.

“The bags then build up in the bin store and we have to pay someone to come and remove it all.

“On this particular occasion, the bin store was full of furniture and cardboard which shouldn’t have been there.

“Unfortunately, the residents have created the situation for the arsonists.”