FIREBUGS who torched a wheelie bin and trashed a village notice board are being hunted by police.

FIREBUGS who torched a wheelie bin and trashed a village notice board are being hunted by the police.

The latest spell of incidents in Sudbury and Great Cornard - four in just one night - are being linked by Suffolk police, which has called on the public to help catch those responsible.

The first incident happened in Cornard Road, Sudbury, between 10pm and 11pm on Tuesday, when a wooden pallet at Ernest Doe's agricultural machinery yard was set alight.

Then at 11pm the same night a wheelie bin was set ablaze in a front garden at Kingsbury Road, Great Cornard.

A brick wall at the front of a garden in Head Lane, Great Cornard, was damaged, a pillar pulled down, a second one dislodged and railings twisted sometime between 8pm on Tuesday and 7am yesterday.

Between 11.30pm on Tuesday and midnight, a wooden notice board was damaged and knocked over outside the village hall.

The latest spate of incidents comes just weeks after the police issued a warning about the dangers of deliberate fires in Sudbury's town centre.

The force also highlighted the importance of its Shopwatch scheme, in which retailers share information with one another and the police to tackle crime.

Last month, Sudbury's Shopwatch co-ordinator Pc Sally Henderson said: “In recent months, there have been a significant number of deliberately-set fires in and around Sudbury town centre.

“The main targets for fires have been wheelie bins and their contents.

“Deliberate fire setting continues to impose significant costs to the economy of Suffolk. But the loss is not simply financial, deliberate fires can result in deaths and injuries to the public, staff and firefighters.

“Even a relatively minor fire at crucial stages of production can mean very large losses for individual firms, business interruption or even closure of the company.”

A spokeswoman for the police said this week's incidents were being linked and urged anybody with information to contact Sgt Matthew Carney at the Cornard Safer Neighbourhood Team on 01284 774100 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.