RESIDENTS have been left fearing for their lives in their own homes after an arson attack on a block of Southend flats at the weekend.

Fire crews were called to the blaze in Pantile Avenue at 9.30pm on Sunday night, which they have now confirmed was arson- after a pile of clothes was deliberately set alight in the stairwell of the second floor.

Resident Abigail McDowell has told of how she was petrified after hearing of the fire and how her sister bravely helped tackle the blaze at the Temple Court tower block.

The new mum said: “My sister went to the second floor where the fire was and got some buckets. They were throwing buckets of water on it and stamping on the clothes to put it out.

“”I’ve got a four-month-old baby so I was quite petrified, to be honest.

“There were about 20 people waiting outside because they were worried and wanted to see what was happening. There were about four fire engines here.

“It’s very worrying that it was deliberate. I was lying in bed last night and expecting something else to happen.”

Resident Darroll Adlington, 43, of the third floor of Temple Court, said it’s very easy to gain entry to the flats and that it’s worrying that it was deliberate.

He said: “I could smell it, it was a real strong smell and you can still smell it now.

“There was smoke but it was going up the stairwell. I saw a lot of people being stopped going in, you don’t want to send someone into a burning building.

“It does worry me that it was deliberate. I’m pretty sure it was done by kids. It’s so easy to get into the block of flats and the doors take a long time to close.”

Dean Riley, Watch manager at Leigh fire station, said: “Someone set fire to some clothes in the stairwell. It was on the second floor and caused the smoke to go up to the eighth floor.

“At first we were getting reports of two fires because of the amount of smoke on the eighth floor.

“It was definitely a deliberate fire. We have done our investigation and found it was a deliberate ignition.

At first residents were concerned because there was a lot of smoke in the stairwell.

“We had to wait for all the smoke to clear, which was the longest part.”

Police have been informed of the incident.

Paul Van Looy, ward councillor for St Lukes, is also concerned that the fire was a deliberate act.

He said: “It’s worrying because you have seven flights and at each floor ten flats. We are lucky that it was put out quickly. It’s concerning that some idiot has done this.”