A man from West Cumbria has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for arson offences.

Ben Taylor, 24, of Whole House Road, Seascale, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today after being found guilty of five counts of arson at an earlier hearing. He was also sentenced to a further four years to be spent on licence.

Taylor started three fires at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway while employed by the company.

He was convicted of starting the fire in the paint shop on December 4 2012 and another in the canteen also in December 2012.

In March 2013 Taylor again set alight to the main engineer’s workshop, this time causing a huge fire that resulted in more than £500,000-worth of damage.

He was also sentenced for starting a fire in the kitchen of a property on Lakeland Avenue, Whitehaven, on November 10 2012, and a further fire in the garage of the same property the following day.

On each occasion, Taylor was the person to raise the alarm.

Detective Constable Paul Scougal said: “Taylor was a dangerous individual who continued to start these fires in an attempt to play the ‘hero’ when he was able to raise the alarm and report the incidents.

"It was an act of selfish attention seeking which caused great distress to his victims and a significant amount of damage to those who had employed him, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.

“Thankfully no one was injured in these fires, but this could have been the case had Taylor not been stopped. I am glad that today justice has been served and hope that all the victims can begin to move on from the devastation he caused them.”