A PETROL bomb was thrown at the house of an 83-year-old pensioner living in a sheltered housing scheme in Burnley.

John Dickinson was at a neighbour's flat in Belgrave Court at the time of the attack at about 9.30pm on Monday and another neighbour extinguished the fire before it managed to spread.

He said: "If I had been in my flat then I would not have been able to get out because there is only one outside door. "We have had problems with youths in the past and Age Concern organised a public meeting about 12 months ago to discuss the problems and they seemed to quieten down, but now it is starting up again."

On Sunday night a fire was started in a wheelie bin next to the front door of another Bradford and Northern property on nearby Kent Street.

Station Officer Steve Cope, from Burnley fire station, said: "There was petrol, parts of a broken milk bottle and a tissue which had been used as a fuse.

"It could have just been a prank, but it could just have easily have caused a fatality if the fire had caught hold and the pensioner had been trapped inside his house."

"Parents should be aware of what their children are up to."

Police said they took away parts of a broken milk bottle away for forensic tests.