A MAN started two grass fires on a hillside near Ebbw Vale earlier this month because he felt "very down", magistrates were told.

Byron Hill, of Stanfield Street, Cwm, was arrested at the scene of the second of two fires he subsequently admitted to starting on Saturday June 6, on scrubland by the B4485 road between Tyllwyn and Waunlwyd.

Hill, aged 41, pleaded guilty to two charges of arson at Caerphilly Magistrates' Court and has been warned that all sentencing options remain open.

Sentencing has been adjourned for reports until Thursday July 23 at Newport Magistrates' Court.

The Caerphilly court was told that a couple travelling along the road saw a fire crew attending a grass fire on the bank next to the road, and a short distance away they noticed a man with bright red hair standing next to an area of scrub.

He began to walk away, and they saw a small fire taking hold where he had been.

Police were called and on arrival spoke to the man, identified as Mr Hill, who was still in the area. He was found to have a cigarette lighter in the pocket of his jeans.

After his arrest he told police he had started the two fires that day, but no others.

He said he had been visiting a friend, was walking back to Cwm where he lives with his disabled partner, and had set the fires because he was stressed and it gave him a release.

Defence solicitor Dave Lewis, said Hill realised the court would be "hugely unimpressed, to put it mildly" with what he had done.

"He lives with his partner and she is physically disabled. He is her carer as she has mobility problems," said Mr Lewis.

"He must accept that by doing what he has done he has put her position as well as his own in some jeopardy.

"He suffers depression and is on medication. On this day, having got the bus into Ebbw Vale, he was walking home and somewhere between Tyllwyn and Waunlwyd he started these fires.

"They were not hugely close to houses but he accepts the fires spread.

"He can think of no other explanation than that he felt very down, because of a combination of his depression, his partner's health, and money worries."

Mr Lewis said police described the fires as damaging a "significant" area. Aggravating factors included the possibility of them spreading to the nearby villages and the fact that fire crews had to be deployed to deal with them.

"He appreciates the dimness with which the court will view his actions," said Mr Lewis.