A man has been arrested on suspicion of committing arson with intent to endanger life by setting fire to his own flat.

The 28-year-old was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act, after a serious fire the bedroom of his ground floor flat in Sutton Court, shortly after 9pm on Saturday night.

Some residents of the three storey block of flats, off Brighton Road, Sutton, reportedly evacuated their properties as smoke bellowed from the fire.

On the same day the man, understood to be a social housing tenant, had reported to police windows at his flat had been smashed.

Neighbours said he had told them he was being harrassed by someone he was in a dispute with.

They believed his property had been petrol-bombed when the blaze broke out later that night.

But police investigating the incident later arrested the man on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.

The cause of the blaze- which completely gutted the bedroom and left the flat badly smoke damaged - is still under investigation.

Fire crews from Sutton, Wallington and Croydon fire stations attended the fire, which gutted the bedroom and left the rest of the flat badly smoke damaged.

One resident said: "A huge cloud of thick smoke was pouring from the flat. I think some people left their flats because they were scared."

A line of police enquiry is the man could have allegedly set fire to the flat to engineer a move from the property.

Sutton CID are keen to reassure local residents that enquiries are continuing.

Anyone with information that could assist the police investigation can contact Sutton CID on 020 8649 0747.