Arsonists destroyed five cars, a caravan and part of a house in a series of late night attacks in West Bromwich.

Fire crews from Tipton and West Bromwich were called out around five times last night between 11pm and 4am to deal with fires which were being started sporadically.

A Ford Mondeo in Cordley Street, a Peugeot 206 and Mercedes Benz van in Hays Street, a Nissan Sunny in Victoria Street and a convertible Suzuki Vitara in Irvan Avenue were all hit.

Burned-out shells only remained today.

Part of a house was also damaged after fire hit a caravan, forcing 75-year-old owner Hilda Paxon to move.

Hilda, a mother of six, who has 24 grandchildren, said: “I thought my time was up.

“I thought that was the end. The first I knew about it was when the cat was making a noise.

“I got up to let him out and was just hit with a massive cloud of smoke, the heat almost knocked me over.

“I shut the door and tried to move to the back of the house as quickly as I could.”

Her son-in-law, John Haycock, who live close-by and her daughter Christine helped her get out.

“The fire destroyed guttering .

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Zoe Lee said: “I can confirm that all the incidents are being treated as arson.