AN ARSONIST smashed a car windscreen with a large piece of stone before using fire-lighters and screwed-up paper to set the vehicle alight.

The blue Vauxhall Corsa was parked on Bradford Road, Birkenshaw, when it was targeted at about 9pm on Saturday.

A spokesman for Cleckheaton fire station said: "Someone saw someone set fire to it. They had taken a large stone from a wall nearby to smash the windscreen."

He added that paraffin fire-lighters and screwed-up paper were then placed on the dashboard and set alight. Fire-lighters were also found in the car's exhaust pipe.

"We were there fairly quickly, so only the dashboard was on fire," said the spokesman. "There was significant damage to the dashboard and smoke damage to the car."

Police are investigating the incident, he added.