A Great Clacton couple have told how they were woken to find fire ripping through their home.

Firefighters believe the fire was started deliberately after neighbours spotted a man with a lighter at the front of the house.

Mother-of-six Maureen Wells asked: "Who would want to kill me?"

Firefighters from Clacton fire station were called to the house in Windmill Park, Great Clacton, at 3.45am today (Friday) after a neighbour raised the alarm.

Mrs Wells and her husband, John, were asleep inside their home when the fire started.

The first they knew about the blaze was when police broke into their house to alert them to the fire.

Unemployed Mr Wells, 58, who suffers from a heart condition, said: "I just ran out of the house after getting the wife and the dog. I have no idea who would want to do this."

He added a neighbour had seen a man with a lighter at the front door. Then the man climbed on to the flat roof at the front of the house and set fire to the curtain through an open window of a front bedroom.

The witness said she saw a red taxi driving past the scene at the time.

Luckily, no-one was in the bedroom at the time of the fire as Mr and Mrs Wells were sleeping in a room at the back of the house.

The couple have ten grown-up children between them but, at the time of the fire, the pair were alone in the house.

The first floor of the house suffered extensive smoke damage and police were forced to kick in the front door to raise the alarm.

The couple, who have lived in the road for five years, said they could not think who would want to set fire to their home.

A shocked Mr Wells said: "We don't interfere with anyone. This is a quiet road. They are all old people."

Mrs Wells, 45, added: "Who would want to do this? I am absolutely shocked and can't understand who would want to kill me.

"The first I knew about the fire was when John woke me up. I wanted a good night's sleep so I had taken sleeping tablets."

Mr and Mrs Wells have building insurance but since Mr Wells became unemployed due to ill-health, the couple have not had contents insurance.

Mrs Wells said her clothes had been damaged by the smoke from the fire.

Police were today investigating the blaze.

(Right) Shock - John and Maureen Wells inside their fire-damaged bedroom.

(Left) Damaged - the outside of John and Maureen Wells' house in Windmill Park, Clacton.

Pictures: STEVE BRADING

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