AN unoccupied house in Hartlepool was almost destroyed by a fire early yesterday morning.

Three appliances from Stranton fire station attended the blaze, which had been started deliberately, at a terraced house at Acklam Street, Dyke House, Hartlepool.

Firefighters used two hose reels to extinguish the fire.

The lounge was completely destroyed and there was severe smoke and heat damage to the remainder of the ground floor and the first floor.

Station officer Les Love, from Stranton Fire Station, said the house was in the process of being refurbished and had been rewired and the decorating had been started.

He said the arsonists had got in the house by pulling down shutters in a back alley.

He warned against such dangerous behaviour and said: "Boarded up houses give one way in and one way out and that is very dangerous if people get trapped."

He said that the fire was started on an armchair, which had been left in the lounge.