Craig Dear, 35, was thwarted after firefighters found him trying to set his ninth floor flat ablaze at Mixenden Court, Mixenden, by burning a pile of clothes in the living room.

Dear, who suffers from delusions as well as hearing voices, had also started another fire at the tower block, where up to 300 residents live, several hours earlier.

He reportedly told police on arrest: "It didn't work – the whole place should have gone up".

Dear was sentenced to two counts of reckless arson and endangering lives at Bradford Crown Court. He has been committed to a secure mental hospital.

Katherine Robinson, prosecuting, said: "At 9pm on January 27 the fire brigade were called to an incident and found some burning paper outside the flat, Dear was present but said he knew nothing about it.

"Six hours later they were called again and saw smoke coming out of Dear's flat.

"After going in with breathing apparatus they found he had set fire to the living room.

"At the police station he said: "It should have blown up actually."

Michelle Colborne, for Dear, told the court he believed he was a fireman at the time and thought he would have been able to put the fire out.

"He had been drinking very heavily at the time and was very angry because he felt the local agencies were not giving him the assistance he needed", she added.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC consulted expert medical advice before sentencing Dear indefinitely to a medium-security mental hospital.

He said: "Although you were unwell at the time your behaviour could have caused great difficulties for the other residents at the flats.

"If I didn't send you to hospital you would be going to prison for a very long time."

Speaking outside court, Geoff Killerby anti-social behaviour manager for Pennine Housing 2000 which owns the flat, said: "We were very lucky that the fire didn't take hold.

"We are usually made aware of mental health problems by other agencies but if there was a history with Dear, we weren't made aware of it."

Three years ago a Halifax coroner criticised housing of psychiatric patients in Mixenden Court after 35-year-old David Reynolds plunged to his death from the sixth floor of the tower block just hours after being placed there.