Nine cars set on fire in two weeks causes concerns in Hampshire town

Since November 10, nine cars have been set on fire in the west part of Basingstoke, Hampshire.

Officers have received reports that:

• A Renault Clio (44240507219) and a Ford Fiesta (44240507413) had been set on fire on Cleaver Road at around 3:30am on Thursday, November 21
• A Peugeot 207, Toyota Aygo, Vauxhall Viva and Volkswagen Polo had been set on fire on Butler Close at around 3:50am on Thursday, November 14 (44240495928)
• A Kia Sportage (44240489639), Nissan Juke (44240489645) and a Mini One (44240489651) had been set on fire on Sycamore Way at around 3:30am on Sunday, November 10

Basingstoke Town Inspector Charlie Ilderton said: “We fully appreciate that these incidents have caused concern in the local community.

“However, I would like to reassure residents that we are taking these reports extremely seriously.

“Our officers are continuing to carry out a number of enquiries and we will be increasing our patrols to provide reassurance and to progress the investigation.

“We would like to hear from anyone who may have information, so if you have seen anything suspicious, or if you have footage which could help our enquiries, please get in touch.”

No injuries were reported as a result of the fires but police have been carrying out additional patrols.

Anyone with information is asked to contact 101, quoting the crime reference numbers above. You can also report online via the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary website. Click here for more information.