A QUICK-THINKING neighbour put out the flames after a flat on Canvey was targeted by arsonists.

The resident heard a door slam, then spotted smoke and water spilling from the ground floor flat on Gafzelle Drive.

Vandals had left a towel on the hob and turned on the taps in the bathroom before fleeing.

The neighbour managed to get into the empty flat where he isolated the oven's electricity supply and turned off the running taps.

The 38-year-old, who asked not to be named, was decorating his flat when the fire started.

He said: "I only moved in last week so when I heard the door slam I didn't think anything of it.

"But then I saw water seeping under my front door and when I went to investigate in the flat opposite, I found smoke coming from the kitchen.

"Someone had draped a bathroom towel over the cooker so I took it off, threw it in the sink and then stamped on it."

The man added that someone had put the bath plug in and turned the taps on, so water was overflowing from the tub.

He explained: "I dialled 999 and asked for the police and the fire service.

"The police never turned up, which I think is appalling.

"If I hadn't alerted them that whole block could have gone up and people could have died.

"I've since learnt this is the second fire to have happened in these flats. It's crazy."

Two crews from Canvey arrived at the block of flats shortly after 7pm on Monday.

Phil Botfield, Canvey sub officer, said: "Crews ventilated the flat, but the ground floor was heavily smoke-logged."

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Police were contacted by the fire service shortly after 7pm following reports of a flat on fire in Gafzelle Drive, Canvey.

"A scenes of crime officer will attend the site before liaising with fire officers in order to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the cause of the fire."