A drunken thug who endangered the lives of neighbours after breaking gas piping at his ex-girlfriend’s flat has been locked up.

Carl Landon, 27, sent a Facebook message to his former partner saying he was going to ‘end it’ before breaking the copper piping to release gas into the block of 12 flats, the court heard. The leak only stopped because the pre-paid meter at the flats, on Platt Close, Accrington , ran out of credit.

But one neighbour, who smokes, later told police he feared ‘the whole flat could have blown’.

Prosecutor David Macro told Burnley Crown Court that Landon’s relationship ended three months earlier but the defendant continued to contact the victim via Facebook.

One night he got ‘very drunk’, argued with her and kept grabbing her around the throat and pushing her, he said.

Then in May, the victim was at a friend’s house when a neighbour spotted Landon outside her first floor flat, closing the door to an outhouse containing gas pipes.

Smelling gas, neighbours called the police and gas board.

When a gas worker turned up he found the copper piping was broken in two places, but said the supply of gas had shut off because the pre-paid meter had run out of credit.

In a statement he said: “If the leak had continued then it potentially could have been a serious situation which could have ­possibly resulted in an explosion and trouble endangering the lives and property of the occupants of number 21 and 23.”

Mr Macro said Landon’s former partner received a Facebook message she believed to be from the defendant at the time of the incident which read: “Going to end it now. Loved you.”

But when she spoke to him later that night he denied any knowledge of the incident and started to laugh.

When he was arrested he said: “It’s that bitch. I’m not done with her yet.”

Landon, of Willows Lane, Accrington, pleaded guilty to assault by beating and criminal damage.

Hugh Barton, defending, said Landon had been drunk at the time of the offence and led a hard working life before developing a ‘growing dependence on alcohol’ in 2012.

He added: “The risk was not something considered by this defendant.

“This was an act of petulance in drink designed to cause his ex-partner inconvenience and annoyance.”

Recorder John Jones QC jailed Landon for two years and eight months and handed him a four-year restraining order.

He added: “This was an extremely dangerous activity.”