POLICE are appealing for help to catch vandals who tried to blow up a block of flats twice in one night.

Families in a three-storey block in Roseberry Road, Redcar, were unaware they were living above a time bomb after vandals broke into an empty groundfloor flat, started two fires and then turned on the gas supply before fleeing.

Later the same evening, with the fires out and the flat boarded up, the vandals returned and sprayed an accelerant into the rooms in an effort to restart the blaze.

Young mother Deborah Dunbar, who lives in one of the flats, said: "These flats are a fire trap. If there is a fire, you would not be able to get out from up here. There is no fire escape."

Detective Sergeant Graham Shaw said: "Someone has made a concerted effort to burn the flat down and put people's lives at risk.

"It's absolutely imperative that we get them, because someone could have been killed or seriously injured. They were very determined."

The vandals' actions were condemned by a fire officer who attended the first incident.

Station Officer Neal Jenkinson said: "They must have been on illegal substances, or their IQ must be way down, to have no sense of what the consequences could have been. There are families living in those flats. It was sheer madness.

"They had set the fires and turned on the gas oven and all the rings. They have tried to cause an explosion."

Firefighters' lives were put at risk because they were wearing breathing apparatus and were unaware gas was leaking.

Detectives want to hear from anyone who was in the Roseberry Road area between 8.30pm and 11pm on Saturday. Anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious should call (01642) 302626