A grandmother has spoken of her terror as thieves stole thousands of pounds of tools from her son's van which was parked on her driveway - before torching it.

The family-of-six from Singleton, including a seven-month-old baby, were in bed at around 2am on Tuesday when the criminals struck.

The grandmother, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions, said she watched her son’s Ford Transit pick-up truck explode into a fireball and roll down the drive into the road.

WATCH: Van bursts into ball of flames in arson attack, Ben Kennedy reports

The sleeping mum-of-two was awoken by the truck’s alarm and soon realised it had been set alight on the drive right in front of the family home.

She said: "There was this massive explosion from where the van caught fire and I saw a puff of smoke coming from the drive. Within seconds the van went up in flames.

"Luckily the fire burnt the handbrake and where our drive is on a slope, it rolled down the drive and into the road away from the house.

"It is just such a worry that someone was doing that on our drive, right under our noses while we were asleep" - arson victim

"It was in the middle of the road when the second, bigger explosion happened. If the big explosion had happened on our drive it could have set our house on fire – it just doesn’t bear thinking about."

She said the runaway fireball truck damaged three of the family’s cars as it disappeared down the drive. The spreading flames then set light to a nearby bush.

She added: "The drive was absolutely black, there was glass everywhere. The bush caught light and it was just such a mess.

"When the truck rolled down the drive on fire it took out next door’s recycling bin so that went all over the place too. It was an absolute nightmare.

"The police told us they think it’s just a random attack and that they were opportunists who spotted my son’s van on our drive and just took their chances.

"I was terrified because I’m not mechanically minded so I just thought everything was going to blow up. It could have been a totally different story and we are lucky, in a way.

"It is just such a worry that someone was doing that on our drive, right under our noses while we were asleep.

"I just think, if you are going to steal something then fine, but why torch a vehicle next to people in a house, in their beds?

"The neighbours were in their house as well. it could have been so much worse and it’s a miracle that it wasn’t."

Police confirmed they were called to the blaze on Singleton Hill by the fire crews who attended.

Officers said they are investigating an alleged arson attack and theft. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Kent Police on 01843 222289 quoting reference ZY/034662/15.