Residents and firefighters are concerned faulty security gates may lead to vandals starting fires.

The suggested problem with the gates came to light when a Sheerness fire crew was called to a blaze in an alleyway last Tuesday.

In the alleyway between Alma Road and Meyrick Road, there are some security gates and locals say that standing on them in a certain way can trip the lock.

Rubbish is then dumped in the alley and often set on fire.

A Sheerness fire crew was called to the incident at 10.30pm last Tuesday when a sofa, bike tyre and other household rubbish were set alight.

The fire had spread to a nearby row of conifers.

Firefighter Andy Ball said: “There was minimal damage to the trees but it could’ve been a lot worse.

“Fortunately some residents had put the fire out with their own hose pipes, but if they hadn’t we would have been looking at lots of burnt sheds.

“Residents say the gates are in the middle of the alley but should be at the entrance.

“They need to be encouraged to go to the dump with their rubbish or use the council’s free collection service.”

Despite residents’ claims the games are faulty, the council says its workers cannot find anything wrong with them.

A Swale Borough Council spokesman said: “A fault was reported concerning the gates in the alleyway between Meyrick Road and Alma Road in Sheerness six weeks ago.

“Our contractor went out to check the gates, as a result of this defect call, but no faults were found.

“A complaint was received yesterday in relation to the fire and the contractor has been back out to re-inspect the gates and has found the locks to be working fine but the gates both open.

“The gates that are part of the alley gate scheme are specifically placed to help prevent crime and disorder, which they do efficiently.

“Obviously, once they are there it is in our interests to ensure that they are functioning properly.”