POLICE are treating a fire which tore through a caravan in Banbury following a gas cylinder explosion as suspected arson. Residents in Edmunds Road had to be woken and moved from their homes at 12.16am yesterday.

The cylinder caught fire in garages off Edmunds Road, setting the caravan alight and damaging a fence and shed. Thames Valley Police spokesman Rhianne Pope said officers were treating the incident as suspicious.

The owner of the caravan had not been located.

Twelve firefighters fought the blaze for more than two hours, after those living in nearby homes were woken and asked to move to the front of their homes, away from the fire.