CANCER patients had to be evacuated from their ward after an arsonist struck Queen Mary's Hospital for the third time in 30 hours.

Now staff are on alert and security measures have been put in place as police try to track down the fire-raiser who has put sick people's lives at risk.

The nightmare began for patients and staff in the first floor Gillies oncology ward late on June 1.

At about 10pm a fire was discovered in a clinical waste room near the ward entrance. This was put out before firefighters arrived and a small amount of laundry in the room was damaged.

At 11.30pm a second fire broke out in the ward itself. The cubical curtains surrounding bay 4, which was empty at the time, were set alight. The blaze was put out by visitors to the ward.

But the last and most serious fire took place in the early hours of last Friday.

The hospital's evacuation procedures swung into action at around 2.30am to remove 16 patients and the staff from the ward as smoke began billowing from a bathroom just outside the ward doors.

The newly-refurbished bathroom was not yet in use but was acting as a storeroom for linen and equipment.

Firefighters again rushed to the scene but the fire was put out by relatives visiting patients on the ward.

Despite the amount of smoke, no-one suffered any injuries in the fire, although the bathroom and its contents were damaged.

Officers from Bexleyheath CID are investigating all three fires, which they believe are linked.

News Shopper understands CCTV cameras were installed in the area last Saturday and plain-clothes police officers are on duty in the hospital in an effort to catch the arsonist.

Helen Moffatt, chief executive of the hospital trust, said: "We are working closely with police to ensure the safety of patients, their visitors and staff."