This was all that remains of a bungalow in South Staffordshire today following a suspected arson attack.

Fire crews used water from a nearby canal to help in the operation but could not save the inside of the bungalow, which has been reduced to a charred shell.

Assistant area commander Ian Dawson led the operation in Ball Lane, Coven Heath, that involved appliances from Brewood, Coven and Fallings Park.

He said: “It was well alight when we got there just after 5am and was completely destroyed. Flames were coming through the roof and out of all the windows and it took us around an hour to put out the fire.”

Mr Dawson said the property had been empty for a long time and the windows had been boarded up, “although that could have been removed before the fire started”.

Residents living around the isolated property said it had been broken into and used by people living rough in the past.