A spate of suspected arson attacks in Castlefield yesterday damaged 12 vehicles, with one victim speaking of her devastation as the attack destroyed her car and family's Christmas presents.

In just two and a half hours, 12 vehicles were ruined in suspected arson attacks, including eight at a company based in Abercromby Industrial Estate.

Further attacks in Abercromby Avenue, Booker Lane and Juniper Drive left a trail of destruction behind, with one extremely upset mother losing all her presents - just two weeks before Christmas Day.

Only the shell of Paula McNally’s Smart car remained after a blaze ripped through the vehicle, with further damage also being caused to her neighbour’s car.

Mrs McNally said: "It has been very upsetting, and just a total shock. Not only is it the car we have lost but also we had lots of Christmas presents in there.

"I didn’t know about it straight away, but it was awful. My neighbour rang me and told me to get outside quickly as my car was on fire.

"There was fire in the trees and the car was just a skeleton of what it was before. The doors had completely gone - it was just the shell left.

"In the end, we know it could have been a lot worse, there were lots of combustibles in the garages and I suppose we were lucky it did not spread to there.

"I think it is shocking as it is a really quiet road down here and I can’t remember anything like this happening here before."

She added the police and fire service have been very helpful.

It is believed Mrs McNally’s damaged car, along with her neighbour's vehicle, were the last in a long line of suspected arson attacks. At about 4.20am eight vehicles were found ablaze in a car park off Abercromby Avenue.

Those vehicles included a silver BMW 3 Series, a silver Citroen C4, a silver Mini Cooper.

At around 5.30am, a red Ford Escort was then found to be on fire in Abercromby Avenue at the junction with Fryers Lane and at 6.11am a red Rover 414 car was found alight in Booker Lane.

Following this the fire in Juniper Drive was discovered.

It has not been confirmed if the arsons were random or planned and if police are treating the incidents as linked.

Those with any information can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org