A grandmother who set a fire at her home has been jailed after a judge said there was a risk she would do it again.

Bernadette Meadowcroft, admitted starting a blaze at her terraced home in Rishton last summer.

She was jailed for two and a half years this week after Recorder Tony Cross QC heard how she had committed arson 20 years previously.

He said: “It’s plain to me there’s a real risk, due to previous convictions, that you will turn to arson as a means of relieving your issues. You present a real risk to the general public which can only be cured by a custodial sentence.”

Burnley Crown Court heard that Meadowcroft, 44, started the fire at her rented mid-terrace house on Chapel Street during the afternoon of May 21, 2013.

The judge heard Meadowcroft called the fire service just after 12.30pm.

When firefighters did not get an answer at the door, they forced entry to the house, causing £1,500 damage.

The court was told the defendant was found in bed in the front bedroom next to the fire - which had been started with paper.

She was the only one in the house at the time.

Meadowcroft, of Chapel Street, Rishton, pleaded guilty to arson with intent.

Prosecutor Emma Keogh told the court that fire and smoke was billowing from the front windows of the house.

The barrister said Meadowcroft has previous convictions for arson and arson endangering life, dating back to 1990, when she set fire to her own property.

Mark Lamberty, defending, said Meadowcroft has ongoing alcohol problems.

He said that despite these issues, she has been working as a part-time cleaner and helps her daughter look after her two young children.

He said the arson was not premeditated and had happened because Meadowcroft had been drinking that day.

Mr Lamberty said Meadowcroft has the support of her daughters, and he asked for a suspended sentence to give the defendant the opportunity to address her drinking problems.

But Recorder Cross QC said the ‘serious’ offence justified a custodial sentence.

He said: “I agree that in this case your focus was on harming yourself but not harming others.

“I agree that you must be given full credit for your early guilty plea and take into account everything Mr Lamberty has said about the effect of your offending on your family.”

Jailing her, he added: “I bear in mind custody will not be easy for you coming as it does for the first time at the age of 43.”