A PRISONER was pulled from his cell at the Young Offender Institution on Portland when he started a fire.

Prison officers called 999 when the inmate set light to the bin in his cell just before 9am on Friday.

Staff managed to put the fire out themselves but firefighters went in to check the smoke filled cell was safe before leaving.

Bob Terrey, fire station commander for Portland, said two crews from Weymouth and one retained crew from Portland were called.

He said: “The prisoner had set light to his bin and the prison officers took him out of his cell before we arrived.

“We sent in two firefighters with breathing apparatus to clear the smoke and ensure the fire was out and found the officers had extinguished it.

“It was a deliberate fire and it was a danger to his and everyone else’s lives there.”