AN arsonist jailed for causing damage worth £310,000 in Dudley is back behind bars after being branded a risk to the public.

A judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court told Simon Glazzard he would only be allowed out of jail when authorities decided it was safe to release him.

Homeless Glazzard, who set fire to Netto in High Street and was sentenced to four years in 2002, was back in court after he put the lives of Wall Heath residents at risk last September by setting fire to a pub outbuilding and four parked cars.

The 37-year-old, who was described as having a fascination with fire, was caged for ten years.

Judge Michael Dudley told Glazzard: "It is unknown just how long you will present a risk to members of the public"

He also told him he would have to stay on licence for a further five years after his release from jail.

During the Wall Heath incident Glazzard also destroyed an £11,000 BMW by fire, a £15,000 VW Golf and a £300 Vauxhall which had also been parked in Beechcroft Road and Holbeech Croft over the course of just two hours.

Madhu Rai, prosecuting, said Glazzard had first started a fire in a field in Wolverhampton Road to "keep warm" and the blaze was dealt with by firemen.

He then approached a police officer who attended the scene to ask why the fire had been extinguished and he became extremely abusive before leaving the scene to start the other fires.

The alcoholic fireraiser admitted two charges of arson and two of being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

He denied arson and being reckless with a fire in an outbuilding at the derelict Albion Inn in Wall Heath but he was convicted by a jury at the end of his trial.

Simon Hanns, defending, described Glazzard as a "troubled and troubling" man who had been leading a "very sad lifestyle.”

Mr Hanns added: "Fortuitously no-one was injured although they could have been. He accepts there was a risk of the fires spreading. I cannot put forward anything to suggest he is not dangerous."