An arsonist who confessed to setting hundreds of fires over the years has been jailed for six years.

Robert Royan, aged 65, was sentenced last week for his fourth conviction for arson.

The first three were in Tenby but the fourth was in a house divided into flats in Commercial Road, Pembroke Dock, where Royan himself was a tenant.

Frank Phillips, prosecuting, told Swansea crown court how a fire broke out in an electricity box in a communal hallway in the early hours.

Royan himself called the fire service from a telephone box and was standing outside the building when officers arrived.

They became suspicious and Royan told senior fire officer Craig Jones that he had been out for a walk, having been unable to sleep, and noticed smoke coming from the building on his return.

He later told police he he had walked to the port to see a ferry arrive. But CCTV cameras proved he had not taken the route he claimed to have walked.

The fire led to an occupant needing medical treatment for smoke inhalation and £5,711 worth of damage.

Police found a Screwfix catalogue in Royan’s flat and charred pages from the same catalogue inside the electricity box.

Royan admitted arson while reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

His barrister, James Hartson, said he had had a grudge against the letting agent he had dealt with.

Judge Paul Thomas said that put his offending into the revenge arson bracket.

The court heard that Royan had already served prison sentences of four, three and then five years for setting fires.

One had been for starting fires in two bedrooms of his mother’s house and the latest was for smashing the window of a shop in Tenby and putting lit papers inside.

Mr Hartson said Royan had various difficulties which led to him becoming frustrated, although a psychiatrist did not consider him to be mentally ill.

Judge Thomas told Royan he had a dangerous, lifelong obsession with starting fires.

“You deliberately and spitefully set a fire in a shared hallway in a block of flats. You knew it was occupied by several vulnerable people.

“It ran a real risk to life and limb because fire, as you well know, is unpredictable and dangerous.

“You set fires heedless of the consequences to others and I have a duty to protect the public.”

Judge Thomas told Royan it was particularly worrying that his first conviction for arson was almost 40 years ago but he still resorted to fire to settle grievances.

Royan was told he would be on licence and liable to be recalled to prison until 2028 irrespective of when he was released from the custodial element of the sentence.