A man has been jailed for six years after an arson on the Brentford Travelodge Hotel.

Jamie Matthews,29, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of arson and being reckless as to whether lives would be endangered.

Isleworth Crown Court heard that on December 4 2019 he entered a bike shed a metre away from the hotel.

CCTV cameras captured him riding away on a bike from the scene as smoke was seen coming from the building.

The court heard Matthews, who pleaded not guilty, made no attempt to alert the hotel or call emergency services.

Matthews was identified on CCTV and arrested last year.

His defence counsel told the court that he started a small fire and left afterwards, unaware that the bike shed was covered in flammable plastic.

She said an expert had told his trial that the cladding on the hotel caused a chimney effect and there was evidence that the cladding system drew in oxygen to the fire, increasing its spread up that part of the building, as could be seen by comparing the extent of the damage on the cladding to that on the non-clad parts of the hotel.

The court heard Matthews had had a troubled life and was receiving treatment for drug addiction.

Judge Giles Curtis-Raleigh said Matthews had "a very, very long record of offending, breaches of a number of court orders and dishonesty".

Though he noted that he would not have been aware of "the surprisingly combustible nature of the cladding".

He sentenced Matthews to serve six years for the arson and another 876 days for burglaries, to be served consecutively.

Around 162 guests were staying at the hotel at the time but nobody was hurt.

More than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze and the hotel was badly damaged. It has remained closed while extensive works have been carried out.

Detective Constable Katie Arnott said: "I'm pleased with this conviction as Matthews' actions were extremely reckless, which could have endangered lives."