Police hunt gunmen who torched cars near prison

TWO masked men are on the run after setting fire to several cars outside a prison. Ten cars were left scorched or completely burnt out after the incident near HMP Birmingham on Tuesday.

Witnesses said one of the men pulled a handgun on prison staff who approached them after spotting suspicious activity on the site.

An insider at the prison said two members of G4S security staff spotted the masked men in the car park, seeing one spraying a liquid on the roofs of the vehicles. When the pair were challenged, one of them pulled what appeared to be a handgun on the staff, forcing them back.

The liquid was then set alight, starting a fire which spread quickly along the row of parked cars, while the masked men escaped through a gap in the metal fence surrounding the site. It is understood that security chased after the men, and managed to get the registration number of their getaway vehicle, before passing it to police.

Nobody was injured following the blaze at around 1.30pm, West Midlands Police said.

Detective Constable James Farrell said: “Firearms officers were at the prison within minutes, but the offenders had already fled. No-one has been injured, but prison staff were understandably alarmed by the incident.

“The motive for the attack is unclear, but we are trawling CCTV to trace the car which made off from the scene.”

Workers at the nearby scrapyard businesses described hearing car alarms going off and coming out to see at least half a dozen cars already well alight.