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A member of the public has been praised for helping to stop a fire at a block of flats in Londonderry from spreading.

The fire started when bins in a communal area were deliberately set alight at the flats in Strand Road at about 04:00 on Tuesday.

Police said without the intervention of the member of the public, who pulled the bins from the building, the "consequences could have been devastating".

An arson investigation is under way.

One of the residents of the flats, Shijin Pakkayil, said he was awakened by the fire alarm going off.

"When I got out of my room I could smell the smoke and when I went out into the corridor there was a lot of smoke there," he said.

"All through the corridor there was really thick smoke and I was actually a bit panicked and trying to get out quick.

"When I came out to the hallway here I could see the bin was on fire."

Mr Pakkayil said he realised he was the first of the four residents of the flats to exit the building, so called out to his neighbour to come out and put something over her face because of the smoke.

He said he then started putting water over the bin while a neighbour phoned 999.

"I think if we didn't wake up in time it could have been worse," he said.

"Another five minutes all the other bins would have caught fire and it would have been full of smoke and it might have been really hard to get out.

"It could have been hard to get out if it spread, this is the only exit."

Det Insp Finlay of the PSNI said."The Northern Ireland Fire Service has ruled this fire as a deliberate ignition and so we are treating this reckless incident as arson with intent to endanger life.

"I want to thank the resident who raised the alarm, and also the member of public for their quick and brave actions which prevented the fire spreading".

Police have appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.