Comment: Peterborough police teams working closely with fire service to investigate all incidents of arson - Supt Neil Billany

​I start by putting on record my thoughts for Adrian Bochentyn and Urszula Stankiewicz who both sadly died in the fire in Crabtree, Paston, on 19 June.

I also express my sincere condolences to their families and friends.

For those living in the area, you will have seen a lot of fire service and police presence for several days afterwards.

While this would naturally cause some concern, we can now say that after thorough forensic investigation it appears the cause is non-suspicious.

We have a duty to fully investigate the circumstances and report to the coroner and this is why we took a couple of days to fully work through the house and surrounding area.

This included seeking external expert advice to ensure we had considered all options and eventualities.

It is not lost on me that this follows several arsons – deliberately setting fires – in other parts of the city.

In March we saw a series of incidents centring on the Ortons which saw buildings evacuated, cars set alight and a signal box for the Nene Valley Railway virtually destroyed.

We are treating these as linked and as reported at the time, made three arrests – two of whom remain under investigation, however one has since been released with no further action.

While we have not charged anyone with these offences, no further incidents have happened since.

We are still working through the available evidence, including the use of forensics, and while you may think this is taking too long, we must do things properly and that takes time.

We also had two arsons earlier this month, one in Millfield where a car was set alight and another in Hampton where a bin enclosure was set alight.

The Hampton fire appears to be owing to people messing with fireworks.

We have made an arrest in relation to this fire and await further enquiries before we consider approaching the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision.

Last month we updated that a 14-year-old boy had been charged in connection with two fires at the same house in Orton Goldhay in April and May.

Since April we have seen nine arson incidents which saw life potentially endangered. Of these offences we have solved five and are working hard to resolve the other four.

While it may be a natural conclusion to say that all fires are linked, as I have heard some suggest, the evidence does not support that theory.

The circumstances surrounding every fire are investigated by the fire service, and police work closely with them from the earliest stages to ensure we can understand what caused the fire to start, and where a deliberate act might have led to that happening, that a crime investigation is opened and all possible lines of enquiry are followed.