Police believe children deliberately started a fire in a Shotton alleyway on Wednesday

North Wales Police have issued an appeal to “all parents and guardians to ensure they know the whereabouts of their children.”

It follows a fire on Tuesday afternoon in an alleyway on Caernarvon Close.

Firefighters were called out at 5.30pm to deal with garden waste which has been “deliberately set alight.”

A police spokesperson said: “Do you know where your children are when they are not at home?”

“Yesterday at 5.30pm, a deliberate fire was started in an alleyway in Shotton.”

“North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were in attendance to the incident on Caernarvon Close, where garden waste was deliberately set alight.”

Shotton Community Beat Manager, PC Chris Wynne said: “I am appealing to all parents and guardians to ensure they know the whereabouts of their children, and to impress upon them the fact that deliberate fires endanger lives.”

“They also place a huge pressure on resources, which often ties crews up for a considerable length of time which intern delays firefighters attending life threatening incidents.”

“To those responsible – please stop and think about your consequences, not only is setting a fire a crime, it is irresponsible and dangerous and can put property and people’s lives at risk.”