Revealed: The North East neighbourhood that is one of England’s worst arson hotspots

An area of Gateshead is among England’s worst arson hotspots shocking figures have revealed.

The area north of the A184 in Teams saw 308 deliberate fires between April 2010 and March 2018 – the 13th highest of any neighbourhood in England.

Of these, 244 of the fires started in bins or rubbish and 27 in grassland, woodland or crops. One deliberate fire in the neighbourhood was classed as “more serious”.

That means it either affected outdoor structures – such as postboxes, telephone boxes, bridges and tunnels – or involved casualties, or required more than four pumping appliances to attend.

The remaining 36 fires were other small outdoor fires. Northumbria Police has emphasised that it has not seen an increase or influx of crimes in the area and the majority of incidents relate to low level bin and grass fires, which are still classed as arson.

Neighbourhood Inspector Harinder Bola said that all reports of arson are taken seriously and warned that action would be taken against those caught starting fires.

He added: “We take all reports of this nature very seriously and can assure residents we will take robust action against anyone found to be deliberately starting fires.

“We are committed to working closely with our partners such as Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) and the local authority to tackle antisocial behaviour and youth disorder.”

Grant Brotherton, Head of Prevention and Education, at TWFRS warned that even smaller fires put people at risk because they tie up fire crews that could be needed for serious incidents.

He said: “Deliberate fires are a real challenge for us.

“Even small outdoor fires put people at risk, because our crews can’t be in two places at once – if we’re dealing with a wheelie bin fire, we can’t respond as quickly to a house fire or a road traffic collision.

“We’re working closely with Northumbria Police and other partners to reduce the number of deliberate fires in our area. We’d encourage anyone with any information on deliberate fire setting to report what they know, 100% anonymously, by calling FireStoppers on 0800 169 5558 or by visiting www.firestoppersreport.co.uk.”

The data investigation – by the Reach Data Unit – used official Home Office figures covering 61,115 cases of arson across the whole of England between April 2010 and March 2018.

Each incident is assigned by the local police force to the “neighbourhood” in which it occurred. Neighbourhoods are geographical units of around 1,500 people.

There are 32,482 of them in England. Out of the 308 deliberate fires in the neighbourhood north of the A184 in Teams, 28 took place in 2017/18. The year 2012/13 was the worst for arson in the area, with 57 deliberate fires in all.

Other parts of the North East were also arson hotspots. The area with in Sunderland city centre had the 21st most deliberate fires in England, with 275 between April 2010 and March 2018.

This included 258 bin and rubbish fires. The area around south of Welbeck Road in Walker was 23rd nationally, with 271 deliberate outdoor fires over the period.

The neighbourhood figures, from the Home Office, don’t include fires deliberately started in homes, other building or vehicles. Across England, the number of fires started deliberately is rising.

There were 58,580 secondary fires started deliberately in 2017/18, up from 53,474 in 2016/17.

A total of 2,571 primary outdoor fires were also started deliberately in 2017/18, up from 2,483. As well as these fires there were also 3,123 deliberate fires in dwellings, up from 3,019, and 4,376 deliberate fires in other buildings, down from 4,522.

Overall, there were 68,650 deliberate fires recorded across England in 2017/18 (although the overall number of deliberate fires is likely to be higher as this does not include vehicle fires).

This was the highest number of deliberate fires recorded since 102,414 in 2011/12.