A north-east family were forced to flee from their home after their cars were targeted in a “terrifying” petrol bomb attack.
Louise Cheyne, her husband Martin and four young sons had to shelter in a neighbour’s house while fire crews tackled the blaze.
Their blue BMW 220 and the grey Vauxhall Corsa were reduced to smouldering wrecks after the incident in Sandhaven in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Police have launched an investigation and confirmed it was being treated as deliberate. A fire service investigations unit has also attended as part of the inquiry.
Mrs Cheyne said the family had been awakened as the blaze tore through the vehicles she and her husband use for work.
The 35-year-old said the ordeal had been “terrifying” as took her four young sons to a neighbour’s home as firefighters battled the flames.
She said: “We’ve got four kids under the age of 11 and it was quite scary.
“It’s just out of the blue because Sandhaven is just a quiet wee village.
“We want the people who did this to know that this isn’t on.”
Mrs Cheyne said the incident has left her children “shaken” and warned the fire “could have been worse”.
She said: “We had one car parked in the drive and the other one was opposite the house.
“We also have a woodshed and they have tried to set that alight as well.
“We sent our three oldest boys to school but they are aware that cars don’t just go on fire, so they were a wee bit shaken.
“Nobody has been hurt though and it could’ve been worse.”
Detective Sergeant Martyn Thomson said: “Inquiries are currently ongoing into the fires which we are treating as having been started deliberately.
“Thankfully no-one was hurt but had the fires not been noticed so quickly, the outcome could have been much worse.
“I would appeal to anyone with information to come forward.”
The fire service said it had been called to Sandhaven at 2.47am. Crews from Fraserburgh took a little over half an hour to fully extinguish the blaze.
Anyone with information that could assist with inquiries is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
