A WOMAN and her three children have escaped injury after fire spread from a car to their house during an arson attack in Derry.
The car, which was parked in the driveway of a house in Temple Park in the Galliagh area, was set alight at around 12.30am on Sunday and completely destroyed.
The fire spread to the house, damaging drainpipes, guttering and roof tiles.
Deborah McBay said on Facebook that she and her children were "shaken but all still alive" and praised neighbours who helped raise the alarm.
She wrote: "I want to give a big thank you to the emergency services who worked through last night... 2 scumbags torched our car which caught the side of the house.
"Without the help of fantastic neighbours today could be a very different story.
"We can never thank you enough... we are shaken but all still alive... these vermin have to be stopped."
Ms Bay's sister, Michelle McKinney, added: "We could've had a tragedy but thankfully the neighbours alerted them and got them to safety... guardian angels definitely watching over them."
SDLP councillor Brian Tierney said the attack had taken place in a built-up area and it is thought the car was randomly targeted.
"This is a family car and they will be out of pocket now. Thankfully we are very lucky that we are not looking at a tragedy here.
"An attack like this would be fairly rare, but unfortunately we would be quite used to car crime and we are working hard to try and combat it."
Police said two men were seen acting suspiciously in the area at the time and appealed to anyone with information to contact officers on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
