A car owner had a rude awakening overnight on Monday after his dog alerted him to his vehicle on fire outside his Ipswich home.

The man was woken by his pet dog at around 12.30am to find his car, a Volvo, “well alight” in Alan Road.

Fire crews received multiple calls alerting them to the incident and were on scene before 1am.

One crew from Princes Street was mobilised and used two hose reels to extinguish the blaze, which had been brought under control within 10 minutes.

A spokesman for Suffolk police confirmed that the incident was being treated as arson.

She said: “It’s not clear how it was set alight but it has resulted in the car being destroyed.”

She added that another car parked next to the Volvo, which belonged to people at the same address, was also slightly damaged as a result.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Ipswich police via 101 quoting crime reference IE153528.