FIRE services in Hampshire faced an increase in arson attacks on homes last year, figures from the Home Office show.

In 2017-18 Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 66 deliberately started house fires, 10 per cent more than the previous year. In total, they attended 869 house fires.

In total, 18 people lost their lives in incidents attended by fire services over the last five years, seven in the last year alone - the highest recorded number for five years.

There were 104 casualties last year, including 74 people who were taken to hospital.

Dave Green, national officer at the Fire Brigades Union, said: “Starting fires deliberately in the home is a heinous crime.

“Arsonists do not just put the immediate victims at risk; they put whole communities and firefighters themselves in jeopardy.

“The fire and rescue service is already stretched to the limit in the fire cover they can provide. If firefighters are dealing with an arson at the same time as another fire call comes in, then those other victims are looking at a long wait before we can get to them.”

Across England, 263 people died in fires in 2017-18, including 20 in ones started deliberately. The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, which claimed 72 lives, the highest since 2007-08.