CONCERNS have been raised over the number of deliberate fires tackled in Gwent this weekend.

South Wales Fire service dealt with more than 20 incidents between Friday evening and the early hours of Sunday morning. These included fires set in bins, car fires and fires caused by fireworks.

A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue service said that gangs of youths were seen in the area of some of the deliberate blazes across the weekend.

On Friday, October 21, crews from across Gwent were called to 10 different deliberate fires within five hours.

Malpas crews attended two fires in the space of three minutes, with the first call being for a refuse bin deliberately set on fire in Welland Crescent in Bettws at just 8.55pm.

The second was another bin fire close to the dental surgery at the Bettws Shopping Centre at 9pm, and firefighters on both Bettws fires used hosereels to extinguish the blazes.

Around 12 youths were spotted close to a deliberately started bin fire at the Marlborough Road playing fields in Cwmbran at just before 9.10pm.

Other incidents included bin fires in Bettws, Blackwood and Cwmbran before 11.30pm.

A further nine incidents were recorded on Saturday evening, including four instances of youths being spotted near refuse fires.

Children were seen deliberately setting fire to a refuse bin on Bethcar Street at 8.44pm in Ebbw Vale while a gang of youths were reported to be throwing fireworks near a deliberate refuse fire in Newport at 9.27pm.

There were three vehicle fires between Saturday evening and the early hours of yesterday morning, as well as a grassland fire near the canal in Cwmbran.

Dean Loader, an operations manager at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said that these incidents were a "drain on the resources" of the emergency services.

He added: "When crews attend these incidents it could often be the case that a more serious case is needing our attention elsewhere."