A SPURNED lover who held his terrified ex-partner and her friend prisoner before starting a £500,000 blaze which gutted her pub has been jailed for four years.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Carl White, 23, had tied up and beaten Natalie Hutchinson and Hazel Savage, set fire to a quilt they were under and threatened them with a knife.

He punched and headbutted them and told the women they were going to burn or be stabbed during their early hours ordeal at Coal Clough House, Burnley, on June 26.

White freed his victims after an hour before torching the 17th century manor house with a cigarette, an aerosol and vegetable oil. He then phoned the fire service and when police arrived around 5.30am, they found the defendant lying as though he was unconscious on the roof.

White, whose mental health was said to have gone into decline before he struck, was taken to hospital and on the way commented: "I tried to kill her. I tried to burn it down with her in it."

Miss Hutchinson had thought she was living her last hours at the hands of her former boyfriend, who had told her he might as well murder her as he could claim to be mad, the court was told.

The defendant, of Palatine Square, Burnley, who has no previous convictions, admitted arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered and two counts of false imprisonment. He was given an extended licence period of three years.

Sentencing, Judge Peter Smith told White he had put Miss Hutchinson's health, if not her life, at risk . He added the defendant, whose family was also a victim of his conduct, had been warned not to drink because of his depression but had shown a blatant disregard for advice given to him.

Wei Lau, prosecuting, told the court the day before the offences, Miss Hutchinson, who lived in a flat above the pub, had told White their year long relationship was over and asked him to move out. About midnight she received threatening and abusive calls and in fear, she rang her friend Miss Savage. She arrived at the pub at 1.30am and the pair sat up until 3.30am and fell asleep.

Rod Priestley, defending, said White accepted he would go to prison.

The defendant had suffered a marked deterioration in his mental health a year ago, which resulted in an uncontrollable, downward spiral and culminated in what happened.

Before that he had been a quiet, stable, polite and hard-working man, an extremely supportive son to his family and there were good sides to his nature.