FOUR people have been charged with numerous counts of arson.

The three men and a girl were arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning by officers working on Operation Numerator, an initiative aimed at investigating a series of suspicious fires in the Crown Quay Lane area of Sittingbourne.

All four will appear before Sittingbourne magistrates on Friday.

Christopher Middleton, 18, of Wickham Close, Newington, 20-year-old Michael Boswell of Cavell Way, Sittingbourne and David Hamson, 28, of Cecil Avenue, Sheerness have been charged with six counts of arson and a further nine counts of arson will be taken into consideration.

The 16-year-old Sheerness girl was charged with six counts of arson and a further seven counts of arson will be taken into consideration.