A BURNED out shell of a car is all single mum Linda Harvey has to show for the independence she so dearly loves.The mother of four-month-old Dylan was due to start a job next week at the other end of Ipswich to where she lives and will now have to let the position go because she cannot get to work after arsonists torched her car.

A BURNED out shell of a car is all single mum Linda Harvey has to show for the independence she so dearly loves.

The mother of four-month-old Dylan was due to start a job next week at the other end of Ipswich to where she lives and will now have to let the position go because she cannot get to work after arsonists torched her car.

On top of that her third-party insurance cover will not give her a penny back which had her baby's buggy and her coat inside it.

Miss Harvey's car was set light to while it was parked outside her flat in Heatherhayes at around 5am today as well.

The 19-year-old said: “I moved here from the Whitehouse area in November and the car was the one thing that could link me to my friends and family who all still live on the estate.

“I had also got a job working in a bar in Whitehouse four times a week. Now without transport I will not be able to start it.

“The job means I would have to work later than the last bus so I would be stranded.”

Miss Harvey said she could not believe what had happened when police officers knocked on her door.

She added: “You always think the worst when the police are at the door. I have to say my car was the furthest thing from my mind at that point.

“But when they said it was a write off I couldn't believe it. My car is the last thing I have left and now someone has taken that away from me too.”

Residents living nearby were woken by the explosion of Peugeot 106.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: “At first I heard a car alarm going. Then there was an explosion.

“I went down to have a look and you could see it had been going a while.

“It was parked close to other cars and burning petrol was running down the street.”

Three other vehicles were thought to have been damaged in this fire.

Shortly after midnight today crews received a report of a fire in Needles Corner, Harkstead, and another car blaze in The Street, Holbrook, at 2.27am.

The Holbrook fire was in a Ford Fiesta which spread to a Renault Megane.

At 4.30am crews were also called to Sandpiper Road, Ipswich, to a Suzuki Vitara which had been set alight.

A spokeswoman for the fire brigade said: “We can confirm that all of these fires are being treated as arson attacks.”

N Do you own any of the cars? Are you a resident who is concerned by the attacks? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk