A ST JULIANS woman was subjected to her own Halloween horror after finding her hallway alight on Saturday night.

Nursery nurse Wendy John, 57, of Burton Road, was left “absolutely petrified” after finding bright orange flames spreading from her letterbox.

Miss John was watching television at around 10pm with boyfriend Paul Middleton, 52, when her smoke alarm went off.

The couple opened the living room door and saw a pair of curtains behind the front door alight and the fire spreading across the carpet.

They rushed to the kitchen and filled up buckets of water, putting the blaze out and then phoned police.

“There was smoke everywhere,” said Miss John. “If it had been an hour later and we had been napping, or in bed, it could have been worse and we could have died.”

The fire started after a liquid - believed by Gwent Police to be an accelerant such as petrol or paraffin - was squirted through the letter box.

This doused junk mail in the metal wire letterbox. The letters were then set alight and flames caught on to the curtains.

The couple think the cost of replacing the badly burnt door, wallpaper, ceiling, curtains and scorched woodwork will be many of hundreds of pounds.

They believe they were the victims of a gang of youths who also damaged cars on the street that night.

Mr Middleton said: “It was pure luck we were able to deal with the fire in time, otherwise police could be dealing with murder not arson.”

A Gwent Police spokesman said it received a call at 10.15pm from Mrs John, reporting an arson attack.

He said there was a possibility an accelerant was used to start the fire, with the CID department investigating the cause.

He added three cars in the street were also vandalised at around 7.40pm- one with a smashed window and two with damaged wing mirrors.

If you have information on any of the incidents, call Gwent Police on 101 or 01633 838111.