A SQUATTER was rescued after debris was deliberately set alight in a derelict building in west Reading.

Police say arsonists set fire to debris in a large room on the first floor of Portman House at the old Battle Hospital site in Portman Road.

Firefighters from Dee Road and Caversham Road rushed to the scene at around 3.30pm on Friday and rescued a woman from the building before using hose reels and breathing apparatus to douse the flames in the two-storey building.

It is believed the building was inhabited by squatters but no one was injured. Police are treating the incident as arson with intent to endanger life and are hunting two white men, believed to be in their early twenties, who were seen in the area at the time.

The first man is of small to medium build, with short dark-brown hair, and was wearing a blue jacket with red and white horizontal stripes. The second man is described as relatively tall with a medium build and was wearing a white coloured jacket and either a blue or black baseball cap.

Witnesses who saw the men or anything suspicious should call the police on 101 and quote reference number 43140189953 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.