A former manager who set fire to the Dudley tyre depot where he worked to cover up a £30,000 scam was jailed for three years today.

David Bratt, aged 58, was convicted of arson following a four-day Wolverhampton Crown Court trial earlier this month.

He had previously pleaded guilty to fraud after admitting raking in £30,210 for himself by siphoning off more than 100 tyres delivered to the company to sell over a 17-month period.

But Bratt had denied starting the blaze at the Hi-Q depot, in King Street  when he realised the fraud was about to be uncovered.

Bratt, a father and grandfather, formerly of Jason Road, Wollescote, was sentenced to three years for arson and was handed a one year jail sentence, which will run concurrently, for fraud.

Judge Helen Hughes said today: “It’s sad to see someone of your age and background in the dock.”

The trial heard Bratt had received a call from his manager Christopher Suttle on September 10, 2009. Mr Suttle had told Bratt discrepancies had been found in accounts and he would be picking up invoices the following day to check them.

After other workers left the building, Bratt set the burglar alarm and minutes later fire crews received calls to a blaze at the building.

Mr Geoffrey Dann, prosecuting, said the flashpoint of the blaze was either on or below shelves where paperwork was stored, he added.

He said it was “extremely unlikely” the fire could have been started by someone outside the building.

Sentencing Bratt today, Judge Hughes said: “It was only because the fire was spotted quickly that a major incident was prevented.”

The court heard Bratt no longer lived in Wollescote and had been running a bed and breakfast in Somerset.