Thirty people were evacuated from flats last night after a man doused himself in petrol and threatened to set it alight.

Residents at Shirley Manor Gardens, Wyke, were forced to stand outside for more than four hours last night while a police negotiator was brought in after the 30-year-old man barricaded himself inside one of the flats.

The incident escalated shortly after 10pm when the fire brigade were called to the three storey homes.

A relative had contacted the emergency services after being concerned about the man, who was alone in the flat.

Station Officer Chris Chapman, of Odsal Fire Station, said: "Our main concern was the other flats which would have gone up if he had set himself alight.

"He was threatening to strike a match and a specialist negotiator was called in to talk to him.

"There was a strong smell of petrol through the letterbox. We had hose reels on standby for four hours just in case."

The Station Officer said about two gallons of petrol had been used to soak the flat. Firefighters found a petrol canister in the flat.

A man came out of the flat at about 2.15am and was taken away by police.

Next-door neighbour Andrew Wilson said the man had lived at the Bradford and Northern Housing Association flats for a month.

When Mr Wilson arrived home at midnight around 30 residents were stood outside.

"We were freezing but we were all pretty worried," he said.

"People were all wondering what was going on. Then we saw a man being taken away by police."

Firefighters used an explosive meter which showed the flat, on the top floor of a three-storey block, would have exploded in flames if the man had struck a match.

The flat was later thoroughly doused down with water.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "A 30-year-old Wyke man was arrested last night and was due to be questioned later today at Bradford's Bridewell police station."

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