Two masked armed men 'set cars on fire' at Birmingham prison
The men used an angle grinder to cut through a fence before dousing cars in a liquid and setting them alight.
Tuesday 7 August 2018 18:51, UK
Two masked men armed with a firearm have "made off" in a car after setting several vehicles alight outside Birmingham prison.
As many as 10 cars have been damaged by the attack as the men threw liquid on to vehicles parked outside the prison, before setting it alight and escaping through a hole in the fence.
In a statement, West Midlands Police said the pair used an angle grinder to make the hole in the fence shortly before 1.30pm, before dousing the cars.
Detective Constable James Farrell said: "Firearms officers were at the prison within minutes, but the offenders had already fled.
"No-one has been injured, but prison staff were understandably alarmed by the incident.
"The motive for the attack is unclear, but we are trawling CCTV to trace the car which made off from the scene."
A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said two engines and 10 firefighters had responded to the incident, involving "a number of cars".
Images from the scene show several vehicles were badly damaged.
Workers at a scrapyard nearby heard car alarms going off, and came out to see about half a dozen cars already alight, and plumes of smoke filling the air.
A prison insider said two members of staff saw the masked men in the car park and reported one of them was spraying a liquid on the roofs of the vehicles.
Ajay Kumar, who works near the prison, said: "I saw four cars alight.
"Then the police were here - they arrived very quickly."
His colleague said police had asked him if he had seen "any men running around" but they were not able to assist.
The fire was extinguished quickly and the last firefighters left the scene before 4pm.