Couple's front door is set alight

An elderly couple were woken up by the smell of smoke filling their bedroom in Essex in the middle of the night.

The man went downstairs to investigate and found that the front door of his home in Colchester had been set alight.

Firefighters were called to the house in Greenstead Road but the man had put out the flames and the chief officer called the police.

Flames extensively damaged the door, the house was smoked-logged and police are treating the incident as arson.

Det Con Peter Burns said: "There would have been very serious consequences if the couple had not woken up."

Police have now appealed for information about the incident and are carrying out an investigation.