A Land Rover exploded and caused extensive damage to a house after it was deliberately set on fire.
The emergency services were called to a property in Crumlin, near Newbridge , Caerphilly , at 4.25am on Monday after the occupants of the house smelt burning and saw a flash of light from their bedroom window. When they looked out to see they could see the vehicle on fire.
The incident was caught on CCTV and shows a man pouring petrol onto the vehicle and trying to set alight before eventually succeeding.
Dean Smith, the owner of the Land Rover Defender, said he had been working on a friend's tree and had left it there overnight to commence work the next morning.
But the £15,000 picker was gutted by fire and has been written off due to extensive damage.
It also caused damage to the property it was parked next to, with exterior damage to the windows and smoke damage inside the hose.
Mr Smith, 41, who owns business Branched Out Tree Services, said: "When my friend looked out the window he could see my cherry picker was on fire and they tried to tackle the blaze themselves with fire extinguishers and a hose.
"The fire brigade got here and managed to put it out but when they looked through the CCTV they could see someone breaking into the Land Rover, pour petrol into it and light it.
"He attempted to light it three times so put his head and body through the window and the flames caught him so whoever did it has been heavily burned.
"The cherry picker is a complete write off, we only bought it three months ago and it's our main work vehicle so it has set us back.
"But that can be replaced. If they hadn't have woken up someone could have been killed."
A spokesperson from the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the fire had been started deliberately and a Land Rover Defender had been destroyed.
A spokeswoman for Gwent Police said: "We received a call at approximately 6.20am reporting a Land Rover on fire on Station Road in Crumlin.
"The Fire Service attended. It is being treated as arson and enquiries are ongoing, there haven’t been any arrests to date.
"Anyone with any information is asked to call Gwent Police on 101 quoting log 64 10/06/19.
You can also send a direct message to our Gwent Police Facebook or Twitter social media pages. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org .
