RESIDENTS have been warned they could face serious injury if they try to tackle wheelie bin fires on their own.

Stockton Heath firefighters have raised their concerns following a spate of arson attacks on bins in the Thelwall area over recent weeks.

In one case, officials say a woman could have caused herself serious burns if she had gone ahead with plans to throw a bucket of water over a fire in a bin.

Colin James, from Stockton Heath fire station said the water would have reacted with chemicals used to make the bin, causing it to spread far quicker.

Firefighter James said: "In the past few weeks in particular, we have had a big problem with youths setting fire to wheelie bins and also 'for sale' signs in the area around the Spar shop, on Thelwall New Lane.

"At the moment we could be called out two or three times a night to deal with incidents.

"The police are looking into it but we are concerned that people will try to put out the fires themselves.

"We do not want people to try to put the blaze out themselves with water, as it would have the same reaction as putting water on oil or fat and this could lead to injury.

"If you see a wheelie bin fire I would say just call the fire service and we can come and deal with it."