IPSWICH: A pensioner has spoken of the terrifying moment she feared a police car would explode outside her house.

The 65-year-old woman had raced towards the burning vehicle in Plover Road in a desperate bid to save her own car, which was parked just inches behind it.

But her daughter shouted for her to take shelter amid concerns the flames engulfing the police car would spread to its fuel tank.

The police car was one of three vehicles to be set alight late on Wednesday evening. Cars in nearby Lindisfarne Close and Hawthorn Drive were also torched.

Detectives were quizzed a man and a woman on suspicion of arson. They have both been bailed until February 10 pending a police investigation.

The pensioner, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “My daughter was asleep and heard a bang and looked out the window and said the police car was on fire. My car was parked directly behind it and the wind was blowing that way.

“I thought: ‘Oh hell it’s going to blow up’. I ran up the garden path to save my car. But my daughter said: ‘Get back in the house, it’s not safe it will blow!’

“It was all the front of the police car that was on fire, it looked like the bonnet. But the firemen were here quickly – they were brilliant.

“The fire was totally unexpected – it’s a lovely area normally, we never get any hassle.”

A man arrested following the incident, Dominic Denton, 30, of Glamorgan Road, Ipswich, was charged with false imprisonment, causing actual bodily harm, possession of cannabis, and taking a vehicle without consent.

One of those being quizzed about the arson – a 23-year-old woman from Ipswich – was also arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of stolen property.