A NIGHTMARE neighbour was being quizzed after a fire ripped through a flat, killing five pets.

David Grothier, 49, was arrested after pieces of wood with lit fabric wrapped around them were pushed through two top floor flats in Gazelle Court, Colchester, shortly before 6pm on Sunday.

In one of the properties, the fabric set fire to clothes hanging on the back of the front door, which spread to the rest of the property.

Mr Hymus said the blaze killed three-month old German Shepherd puppy, Shadow, as well as a cat, a chinchilla and two budgies.

Tenant Jack Hymus was celebrating Mother’s Day with his mum Catherine Purchases - the tenant of the other flat targeted which was not damaged - in Walton when his neighbour texted him to tell him his home was ablaze.

He said: “We came back as soon as I got the text.

“They wouldn’t let me in, understandably, because it was a crime scene so I was standing down with the crowds for three hours knowing my animals weren’t going to survive.

“They were all I was worried out.

“I don’t care about beds or clothes, I can replace them but I can’t replace my animals.

“I really loved Shadow, he was such a good dog.”

Mr Hymus, 28, who rescues and re-homes animals, had his second dog, Rudy - a Pug-Beagle cross breed - with him at the time of the fire.

Mr Hymus added: “I’m absolutely devastated. I haven’t slept at all since it happened and every single sound is getting me jumping.

“How was the person who did this meant to know there was no-one in the flat at the time? I actually wish I had been because I could have been able to rescue the animals.”

Mr Hymus also praised the emergency services for their swift response.

He added: “By the time I got back here, they were already clearing upstairs. They’d stopped the fire quickly but they said if they’d been five minutes longer, the whole block might have gone up.”

No-one was injured as a result of the blaze.

Mr Grothier, who lives in a block opposite the scene, was previously convicted of harassing his upstairs neighbour.

He has not been charged in connection with the arson.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “A 49-year-old man from Colchester has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life following a fire in a flat in Gazelle Court, Colchester.

“The man is currently in custody.”

An Essex County Fire and Rescue spokesman added: “The fire service was called to a flat fire in Gazelle Court, Colchester, on Sunday.

“When fire crews arrived they reported there was a small fire in the sitting room of the first floor flat.

"Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire.

“The fire is thought to have been started deliberately.”