Arson is being investigated as a suspected cause of a fire which tore through the Faulkner Park overnight.

Firefighters were called to the playground at Faulkner Park around 6.30pm, which was reported to be ‘well-ablaze' when crews arrived.

Crews used a high pressure hose and shovels to extinguish the fire.

A New Zealand Fire Service spokesperson says the cause is still being investigated.

'The cause of the fire has been recorded as suspicious.

'That doesn't mean it was deliberate, but there is certainly no obvious reason for it to have started accidentally, that we can find.”

Locals in the neighbourhood took to Facebook last night to express their concerns about the fire.

'The fire was well ablaze when I drove past and many had already phoned the fire brigade by the time I got there,” says a local who witnessed the fire.

'A house backing on to the park was getting his garden hose out and was attempting to put the fire out.

'Another mum that I know said she had just been playing with her kids 10 minutes prior to the fire, it's very sad.

'Someone lit the playground on fire in Faulkner Park,” says another local. 'It's brand new, only been up a few months, we're really disappointed.”

Fire services continue to investigate the cause of the fire.