Firefighters from Clacton were called out eight times in just over three hours to deal with a number of small blazes across Clacton town centre started by young arsonists.
The incidents started just after 5pm yesterday and carried on until 8.30pm.
They were all started deliberately and are being linked and are believed to be down to a group of youngsters.
The first call was to a billboard on fire in Pier Avenue and half-an-hour later, a pile of cardboard was set alight in Old Road.
At 7pm, a wheelie bin was on fire in the car park of Somerfield supermarket in High Street and that was followed by another bin in the covered market site, also in High Street.
Two minutes later, a crew was off to yet another bin alight, behind Clacton Library in Carnarvon Road.
At 8pm, a crew went off to Anchor Road again to a bin alight and two more bins were set on fire in Page Road and then in an alleway in Jackson Road. The last call was at 8.30pm.
A Clacton fire service spokesman said: "Basically, both crews were kept occupied chasing around to the various incidents for three and a half hours non-stop.
"Due to the close proximity of all the incidents, and the timings, it is likely to have been the work of the same group."
The spokesman said it was most likely to have been youngsters.
Published Monday November 4, 2002
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