Motorcycles, cars and front gardens were set alight leaving a trail of destruction in the early hours of this morning in what is understood to be an arson attack.

Preston Circus Fire Station received a number of calls at 4am this morning to Hartington Road, Brighton, where a motorcycle was on fire.

In the short time it took the fire crews arrive the fire had spread to a Ford Mondeo parked nearby.

As fire fighters extinguished the blaze, the suspected arsonists worked their way through Hanover setting fire to recycling bins on Hartington Road.

Crew manager Deakin from Preston Circus Fire Station said: "As soon as we started putting out one fire, we could see smoke coming from behind houses elsewhere."

The attack moved on to Shanklin Road where a front garden went up in flames as garden waste was torched.

In the same road, a Peugeot was set alight as well as more recycling bins.

The suspected arsonists then moved onto Moulsecoomb where a further three recycling bins needed extinguishing.

Crew manager Deakin added: "All in all we responded to 11 calls of fire in less than two hours.

"The incident has been passed to the police and in a joint investigation we hope to have more details soon.

"We cannot make any further comment at this stage until these details are made available to us."

If you were in the area or were affected by the suspected attack, email gareth.davies@theargus.co.uk.