DESPERATE residents are demanding action after they were forced to break social distancing restrictions and flee their homes due to a series of suspected arson attacks.

Firefighters were called to Riverside Place, in St John’s Avenue, Braintree, three times over the weekend to tackle small blazes.

The first fire on Saturday afternoon saw residents evacuated from the flats after a bag of waste was deliberately set alight in the stairwell.

There were further small fires again in the early hours of Sunday and later in the afternoon.

It is the second time Riverside Place has been targeted by firebugs after the building suffered three suspected arson attacks in the space of four days in February.

Residents are now pleading with Home Group – which manages the flats – to take action and boost security amid increasing fears over their safety.

Lucy Ambrose, who was evacuated from her flat along with children Katie and Alex, said: “My two-year-old daughter was standing outside shaking and crying because she was so scared.

“It’s getting worse here and someone is going to end up dead or seriously hurt.

“We’ve had about 11 fires since January, I’m sick and tired of it all. There’s no security and we don’t get told about a fire unless someone tells each other, we have to look out for each other now as Home Group won’t do anything about it.

“We’ve been told cameras cost too much but us residents would rather pay more to have it installed to protect us and our families.

“The place absolutely smells of smoke, and you can still smell the fire and smoke from the other day in my bathroom.

“I can’t sleep at night because I keep hearing people walking about it and you wonder what they are up to. It’s just terrifying.”

Essex Police is investigating the latest arson attacks and appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

In response to the concerns raised by residents, Home Group South’s head of delivery Jo Huxtable said: “We are very much aware of the issues at Riverside Place and I would like to reassure our customers that we are taking them extremely seriously and doing our utmost to deal with them.

“We are working very closely with the police and fire services, and a number of measures are being put in place in order to put an end to these incidents. I would ask anyone with any information, however small, to get in touch with the police or ourselves to help us prevent future incidents.”

Contact police on 101 and quote reference number 42/47431/20.