An elderly man and woman have been hospitalised after a fire was deliberately started at their home.
The suspected arson attack took place at a house in Liverpool in the early hours of the morning.
An accelerant is believed to have been poured on the front door and set alight at the property.
Police are appealing for witnesses or information as they investigate the incident in Old Swan - the same area of the city where council worker Ashley Dale was shot dead in her garden just weeks ago.
Officers were called to reports of a fire at a house at around 3.20am on Thursday.
Have you been affected by this story? Email zoe.tidman@independent.co.uk
A man and a woman in their 70s were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation and other injuries, according to Merseyside Police.
The force said reports and examinations had established the fire was “caused deliberately”.
The blaze at the property took place on Dorien Road in Old Swan neighbourhood of Liverpool.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Fire and Rescue said crews arrived to find “fire damage to the front door” but the blaze was already out.
Ms Dale was shot dead in her garden in Leinster Road in the same area of Liverpool last month, with a third person arrested on suspicion of murder this week.
Dorien Road is also a half-hour walk away from where nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was fatally shot in her home earlier this month.
Merseyside Police said it has launched a joint investigation with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service in connection with the fire.
It urged anyone who witnessed the incident or with any information to contact them by DM on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ using reference 22000649658.
Alternatively, they can contact the independent charity Crime stoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or online.
