Three people were rescued by firefighters from the roof of a home for vulnerable people after two fires at the property in the same night.

A further five people were rescued from inside the home on Maldon Road, Wallington, after thick smoke engulfed the building in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The cause of the fires is suspicious.

Alan Rogers, 37, has been living at the property in Wallington since January 2009. He said: “I was in bed when the fire alarms went off the first time. I could see flames coming from the laundry room so I banged on the doors and told one of the residents to call the fire brigade.”

Mr Rogers went back to bed after the first fire, but was woken again by a second fire just before 2am.

He said: “When I came out that time the smoke was like pea soup.”

Mr Rogers said he believes the fires were started by someone outside the hostel after a fight with one of the residents.

The property is owned and run by the Croydon Churches Housing Association (CCHA), who provide supported housing to people from a range of backgrounds including single mothers, ex-prisoners and people with mental health problems.

Mr Rogers said: “I don't feel very safe here, I haven't done for a while.

“Lately there has been a lot of antisocial behaviour in the house.”

Some of the residents had been moved to the property from another CCHA-run home on Cheam Road where a resident , Robert Lewis, was murdered by another resident last month.

Questions are now being raised as to whether the properties should receive greater supervision.

Ian Winslet, chief executive of CCHA, said the association believes both homes had the appropriate level of support. He said these incidents were very unusual and can happen anywhere.