Up to 40 vehicles were damaged in total in the arson attacks, which began in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Among the areas targeted was a car park at Rolls Royce in Filton.

The first report of a vehicle fire came at about 1.30am in New Road in Stoke Gifford, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Just a few hours later, officers were notified that cars were on fire at the Rolls Royce facility, where about 20 vehicles were damaged as a result.

By 5.30am, a number of other reports had been made, with up to 20 cars set alight across Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Gifford.

Some of the vehicles' fuel tanks exploded but no one was injured during the attacks and buildings were left unscathed, police said.

An investigation is now under way and police are working with the fire and rescue service to establish what happened.

Officers are due to make house-to-house inquiries and have appealed for anyone with information to get in touch.

"At this early stage the damage is making it difficult to identify vehicles in order to notify the owners," the force said.

"We'd like to hear from anyone who finds their own vehicle has been damaged, as well as anyone with information or dashcam, CCTV or other footage which could help our enquiries."

The fires come just days after environmental activists, The Tyre Extinguishers, claimed to have deflated tyres on a number of SUVs in Bristol.