Woman, 93, injured in flat arson

Police and fire investigators examined the scene of the blaze

A 93-year-old woman is seriously ill after being rescued from an arson attack at a flat in Harrogate.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus found the woman in the ground floor flat on Newby Crescent in the Jennyfields area on Saturday night.

She was suffering from severe smoke inhalation and was taken to hospital, where her condition was "serious".

Fire investigators at the scene on Sunday said the blaze had been started deliberately outside the flat's porch.

Trevor Lund, of the regional fire investigation team, spent most of the day with police scenes of crime officers examining the damaged flat.

He said: "The fire started outside the flat by the porch.

"The resulting fire has done quite a serious amount of damage to the two properties either side of the porch."

Nobody was in the neighbouring flat at the time.

Det Insp Heather Pearson, of Harrogate Police, said: "This is a serious matter and had the fire service not received the call then the consequences could have been tragic."

Fire investigation officers and scenes of crime officers from North Yorkshire Police spent most of Sunday examining the damaged flat.