A suicidal schizophrenic is starting a four-year jail sentence after he tried to set himself alight on a petrol station forecourt.

The quick-thinking actions of an attendant and passer-by, who managed to prevent the man from setting fire to himself, were praised by a judge who recommended they each receive a reward of £200.

Eritrean refugee Emerson Melake, 29, told an attendant at the Jet petrol station in Keighley Road, Bingley, last October that he had one minute to vacate the premises. He then doused himself in barbecue lighter fuel, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Diana Maudslay said quick-thinking attendant Sabir Asmail turned off the petrol supply to the pumps on the forecourt as Melake began slashing through the hoses with a knife.

Melake cut through three hoses and tried to set light to petrol spilling from them. He moved in between the two pumps and sat down, staring at Mr Asmail.

Passer-by Gary Croby intervened and managed to stamp out the flames.

Police officers arrived and arrested the uninjured Melake. They recovered matches and a knife.

A fire officer later estimated that almost three litres of petrol had spilled from the pumps during the late-night incident.

Judge Roger Scott ordered that the attendant and Mr Croby should each receive a reward of £200.

Melake, of Brunswick House, Crossley Wood, Bingley, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a charge of arson, being reckless as to whether life would be endangered. He told police he wanted to commit suicide but did not intend to endanger anybody else.

"He said he planned to blow himself up before he was 30. He had been ill for about 10 years," said Miss Maudslay.

"He wanted essentially to die and be cremated in this way. He said it was not his intention to cause a major explosion."

A psychiatrist's report revealed Melake suffered from chronic paranoid schizophrenia and was a high risk to the public.

Ben Crosland, for Melake, said: "He had set himself, it seems, a 10-year limit to make something of himself. He felt he hadn't. He felt a failure. But even at the lowest possible ebb he was attempting to steer others clear of the danger he had in mind for himself."

A spokesman for Jet Petroleum today praised Mr Asmail.

He said: "Sabir showed extraordinary presence of mind by switching off the petrol pumps and going outside to help extinguish the flames. His bravery avoided what could have ended in a potentially catastrophic outcome.''