A "serial arsonist" swept through a Battersea estate in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters were called to Cranmer House, Surrey Lane, at 1.30am, after a bin was set alight and a further three calls came in within half an hour while they were tackling the blaze.

The crew from Battersea fire station then extinguished a second bin fire outside Hervey Court before a neighbour alerted them to a third fire at Gardiner House.

Further crews from Clapham, Wandsworth and Chelsea attended.

As firefighters were packing up to leave after extinguishing the three fires, smoke was seen coming from the roof of 20-storey Cranmer House.

Firefighters believe the fire in the first floor corridor of the high rise building was started deliberately and the bin fires were used as decoys to distract their attention.

The fire was said to have started in a storage area and Simon Jenkins, watch manager at Battersea fire station, said because of the earlier fires, the smoke from the fourth fire had got into the fabric of the building and carried up to the roof.

About a dozen people chose to evacuate the building and nobody was injured.

Firefighters used breathing apparatus to extinguish the corridor blaze, which was by the stairs and emergency exit, but crews also visited the 10th to 13th floors because they were heavily smoke-logged.

Mr Jenkins urged residents living in high rise blocks to remain in their homes in the event of a fire, unless it was in or next to their home.

He said: "You are safer to stay in your flat if there is a fire elsewhere in the building. The flats are designed in a particular way for that."

He also urged residents to ensure rubbish is taken to bin storage areas during the festive period to avoid accidental fires.

A fire investigation has been launched.