POLICE are investigating three suspicious fires in Margate to see if the incidents are linked.

Firefighters were called to a wheelie bin that had been set on fire on Fort Paragon just before 1am on Thursday.

Thirty minutes later fire crews were alerted to the Winter Gardens complex in Fort Crescent, yards from the first incident.

They discovered a window had been smashed and a smouldering plastic bag thrown inside.

Less than an hour later they returned to the area where a mattress had been set alight in a shower block outside a house in Ethelbert Road near the Winter Gardens.

The building was extensively damaged, and a nearby electricity substation was also damaged.

Police want to trace two men seen walking a dog in the area of two of the fires. Both men wore dark coloured hoodies and tracksuit bottoms. The dog is thought to be a Staffordshire terrier.

Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives on 01843 222151.