A LANDLORD believes he is the victim of a ‘grudge’ after one of his properties was gutted by a ‘huge’ fire.

Developer Martin Bennington said his house in Accrington Road, Burnley, had been wrecked internally by the suspected arson attack.

Police said they were in the process of trying to contact Mr Bennington’s tenant, who had lived in the house for around six months but was due to move out today.

Detectives said he was not being treated as a suspect ‘at the moment’ and appealed for other witnesses of the blaze to come forward.

Investigators were today expected to formally confirm the fire, which happened at around 9.20pm on Wednesday, was started deliberately.

Firefighters who tackled the blaze reported a strong smell of petrol in the property and said the intensity of the fire had melted plaster off every wall in the house.

Mr Bennington, who owns five properties in Lancashire and elsewhere in Britain, said he thought someone with a ‘grudge’ may have set the fire.

And he revealed that a new tenant, who was due to move in next week, will now not be able to for around six months, costing Mr Bennington £2,600 in rent.

He said: “Inside the house is unbelievable. The plastering on the wall is completely gone.

“I am devastated. I spent a lot of time and money on this house.

“We had a new tenant lined up. We were hoping to come round, clean up the house and move the new tenant in but we can’t now.

“The new tenant won’t be moving in so the house will be out of use for as long as it takes to sort it out - probably six months.

“I assume the insurance will cover all of it but I have lost some of my own contents.

“I am very angry, especially as I have got to relocate the new tenant.”

Mr Bennington’s house is one of six terraced properties in a row, but the only one not owned by Burnley Council under the Elevate regeneration scheme.

He said he bought the property in 2006 for about £35,000 and had spent about the same on renovation.

Firefighters described Wednesday’s blaze as “huge” and said that the property smelt of petrol.

A crew spokesman said: “The property was well alight when we arrived and fire was coming out of every window of the house.

“It was particularly fierce at the front of the property in the living room, hallway, upstairs bedroom and attic bedroom.”

He said three people had been living in the property, which is surrounded by many boarded up homes, but are thought to have moved out earlier this week.

Det Insp Sion Hall, from Burnley CID, said an investigation into the cause of the fire was still ongoing and appealed for witnesses to come forward.

He added: “We have got fire investigators out there and they will decide on whether the fire was suspicious, based on what they find.

“If a tenant or tenants were in there we would like to speak to them as witnesses to the fire but we are not after them for anything untoward at the moment.”

Anyone with information should contact Burnley CID on 01282 472143 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.