People banged on doors to wake their neighbours after three arson attacks threatened to send apartment blocks up in flames this morning.

Families in Bingley Court, Canterbury, fled the buildings shortly before 5am and watched in their pyjamas as fire crews tackled the flames.

Bin stores on the ground floor of each block had been torched in what investigators are describing as a “deliberate” act.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, spotted the fires as he went to catch a train at 4.50am.

“My first thought was that we needed to wake everyone up and get them out,” he said.

“Someone was outside and already on the phone to the fire brigade, so we went round banging on doors.

“We could hear smoke alarms going off in the flats.

“The fire brigade were there really quickly, so luckily it wasn’t as bad as it could have been – especially when you consider what happened at the Tannery.

“There is no electricity supply to the bin stores, not even any lights, so I’d be very surprised if the fires weren’t started deliberately.”

Pam White, who lives at Bingley Court said her and the neighbours always find people in the bin sheds "doing all sorts."

The 58-year-old said:“People come round on bikes and they go through all of the rubbish, people go in there for drugs and to do drug deals.

"Some blocks have locks for their sheds and some don't.

"One day someone will die - it’s really worrying. There’s always people around at night. I don’t like to go out at night at all. I keep saying to the management put locks on all of the sheds.

"It worries people - look at what happened at the tannery fire.

"My husband is disabled and if there was a fire outside the front of our flat we wouldn’t be able to get out. It is really scary."

Two fire crews arrived at the scene within minutes of being called at 4.49am.

While the fires were contained to the bin sheds, apartments above suffered smoke damage to balconies and French doors.

Little more than eight hours before, crews were also called to a huge blaze on land behind the derelict Coldharbour flats in Kingsmead Road.

A large pile of rubbish and some cypress trees had been set alight at about 8.30pm, sending flames spiralling above the rooftops.

The blaze, which is also being treated as arson, was put out within half-an-hour.