Fire crews were called to reports of a mattress being set on fire in an alley.

Carlisle East Fire Station responded to the fire which occurred to the rear of Fusehill Street, Carlisle at about 1.30am on Monday.

While in attendance, crews discovered the mattress on fire, which they believed to have been started deliberately. Crews extinguished the blaze using a hosereel and were in attendance for a short while.

A spokesman for Carlisle East said: “The opportunistic arsonists still seem to have nothing better to do than setting fire to rubbish and discarded items.

"We know that the refuse centres are still not running at full capacity and disposal of items perhaps isn’t at easy as we are used to, but please do not give these idiots the chance to set things alight, and don’t leave items in easily accessible public areas, or against your property. It’s only a matter of time before a fire like this spreads to a property and ends in tragedy.”