A family had to be rescued from a balcony after the cars on their driveway were set on fire in a terrifying arson attack.

The family, who live in Lord Avenue, Clayhall, said flames “were as high as the house roof” after the cars were torched in the early hours of this morning.

One family member said: “It’s unbelievable, we don’t understand why this has happened, we have no clue who would do this.

“There were five of us in the building and we had to go to the balcony at the back – one of the (emergency) services gave us a ladder and we climbed down.”

Another added: “We captured the whole thing on CCTV and you can make out a person setting the cars on fire.”

While the family, who asked not to be named, are upset about the situation, they said they were thankful nobody was injured.

A neighbour said she realised something was wrong when she heard a scream.

“I am worried for the community – who could do such a thing?” she said.

“It smells bad and I have still got black stuff from the fire on my car.”

Police were called at 12.46am to reports of three cars on fire. Officers and fire crews found two cars fully ablaze and firefighters had the incident under control within 30 minutes.

A Met Police spokesman said: “The owners were at home when they heard a loud bang. On looking out of the window they saw the cars on fire.

“Two of the cars were completely burnt out and a third, which was parked nearby, had fire damage.”

No arrests have been made and inquiries continue.

Anyone with information can call Det Con Yasmin Hussain at Ilford CID on 101 quoting reference number 4408575/16.

To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.