CCTV released in South Gloucestershire vehicle arson series investigation

Enquiries into a series of arson attacks on vehicles in South Gloucestershire are continuing at pace.

Twenty-five vehicles appear to have been indiscriminately targeted at seven locations in the Bradley Stoke/ Stoke Gifford area during the early hours of Sunday (3 April) causing hundreds of thousands pounds worth of damage.

A number of charities were among the victims with a number of minibuses which were relied upon by vulnerable members of the community among those destroyed.

Since the incidents, several hours of CCTV and other footage has already been collated by officers or handed in by members of the public.

An initial review of this footage has identified two people – believed to be teenage boys or young men – who we’d like to talk to.

In this series, the two offenders set fire to the first vehicle at 1.09am on New Road before heading north where they carried out further attacks on Gatcombe Road at 1.33am and then on Sandringham Road at 1.47am.

Nearly three quarters of an hour later, at 2.30am, they targeted vehicles parked at the Jubilee Centre on Savages Wood Road before doubling back to Little Stoke playing fields where they set more vehicles on fire at 3.09am.

The arsonists then headed west to a car park behind the Rolls Royce site on Gipsy Patch Lane where they destroyed 16 minibuses before most likely retracing their steps to set fire to a vehicle on Sherbourne Avenue.

Vehicle owners for all but three of those targeted have been identified – with a Mini and two minibuses too badly damaged to trace their owners.

A team of detectives are investigating the series with support from colleagues across the organisation including specialist crime scene investigators.

Detective Inspector Will Thorpe said: “While we’re still in the early stages of the investigation we’ve already made significant progress.

“Dozens of hours of footage from public and private CCTV and doorbell cameras has been gathered and continues to be reviewed.

“We remain open-minded about the motive for these attacks but from the enquiries we’ve carried out to date, we don’t believe the offenders have specifically targeted particular vehicles.

“The majority of the vehicles destroyed belonged to charities and it is hard to imagine that had the offenders known this, they would have deliberately set them on fire.

“All the victims have been significantly inconvenienced by this shameful crime spree and we are committed to finding those responsible.

“We continue to appeal for local residents in the area to check any camera footage they may have from the early hours of Sunday, in particular between 1am and 4.40am when the offenders may have walked past.

“We’re also still keen to hear from any motorists with dash camera footage who may have driven through the area as well as anyone who witnessed two people acting suspiciously.”