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A chilling tape of an arsonist calling 999 to claim someone else had set fire to a Halifax primary school he had just torched has been released.

In the audio, Aaron Foster, then aged 19, can be heard making the call to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service blaming non-existent accomplices to avoid suspicion falling on himself.

Foster, of Stanningley Road, Mixenden, who had denied the charges but was later found guilty, was yesterday (Wednesday) given a life sentence for deliberately starting the fire blaze Ash Green Primary School’s upper site in February this year and another at Mixenden Library in August 2020.

Damages to the school were over £4.5m and around £180k at the library.

Ash Green Community Primary School's upper site after the fire

After getting trapped by the flames he had deliberately lit, Foster called 999 in a panic.

During the call, Foster is heard telling the control room operator he’d just come out of prison and his mates had suggested stealing iPads to get some money, but then ditched him after they set fire to the school.

"There’s sparks everywhere," he says. "It’s getting worse."

Foster also admits on the call to breaking into the school after smashing a window. He is given advice to cover his mouth with a jacket and stay calm and get close to the floor.

Guided by the operator he was eventually able to get to an area of the school away from the flames and was then assisted to safety by fire crews.

Foster had been captured on CCTV walking around the school using the torch function on his mobile phone and carrying a lit cigarette.

The fire investigation that followed the incident indicated that there had been three or four seats of fire.

The footage showed Foster going into classrooms in the Key Stage Two area and captured the moment the first fire was started.

He was subsequently arrested by West Yorkshire Police on suspicion of arson and later suspicion of burglary.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Dave Walton branded Foster “reckless”, saying he had endangered his own and firefighters’ lives.

"The arsonist trapped in the school by his own criminal antics put not only his own life in danger but also our crew’s lives were unnecessarily endangered having to rescue him,” he said.

“And to then ring up our control staff after getting himself trapped and blaming others for setting the fire is beyond belief."

Halifax school fire: Listen to chilling phone call that arsonist made to 999 after torching Ash Green Primary School