Police are appealing for information following a Bonfire Night arson attack in Looe which echoed the death in Cornwall last year of housewife Mary Fox.

Two fire appliances from Looe and one from Liskeard were sent to Sunrising at 1.21am on Saturday and found that the fire was in the hallway of a ground floor flat. It was extinguished by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using a high-pressure hosereel. A subsequent fire investigation confirmed that arson was the cause.

Police said they believe the fire was started at some time between 7.20pm on Friday, November 5, and the early hours of Saturday morning.

Substantial damage was caused to a wooden door and frame but a police spokesman said that fortunately the fire did not spread into the premises and the occupants were out at the time.

'These sort of incidents are potentially very dangerous and we are all aware of the fatal consequences which have arisen in the past,' he said, adding that local police are keen to hear from anyone with any information about the incident.

On Bonfire Night last year 59-year-old Mary Fox died when fireworks were pushed through the front door of her home on the Berryfields Estate in Bodmin.

Mrs Fox perished in the blaze but her 17-year-old son escaped.

Three teenagers have been jailed for her manslaughter and for arson.