A KIDDERMINSTER man described by a judge as "a danger to the public" has lost an appeal against an arson conviction.

Ricardo Pooler, aged 29, was jailed for three years at Worcester Crown Court last month after being found guilty by Kidderm-inster magistrates of setting ablaze his flat in King Charles Close, Kidderm-inster.

The fire brigade was called in January and found a small fire in a landing cupboard, said Mr Paul Whitfield, prosecuting.

Pooler had raised the alarm by going to a neighbour and asking to use the telephone. But he was so drunk he could hardly stand and was unable to press in 999 on the phone.

Fire Officer Adrian Moore told the appeal on Friday he could smell accelerant, although forensic tests did not reveal accelerant on Pooler's clothes or in carpet and bedding in the cupboard.

There was no electricity or gas at the flat, which was unfurnished. Pooler had been using candles for lighting.

Pooler, whose home is now in Stourport Road, told the court that he had left a lighted candle on a shelf in the cupboard when he went out to buy cigarettes. He saw smoke coming from a window when he returned.

His barrister, Miss Sally Thompson, submitted there was no evidence to show that Pooler had started the fire deliberately.

But Judge John Cavell said the seat of the fire was six feet from the shelf and this was not the result of a candle falling down. Pooler's explanation was "unrealistic and untruthful".

When Pooler was sentenced last month, Judge Andrew Geddes noted it was his sixth conviction for arson and described him as a public menace.