"I'm not the firestarter"

He revealed his distress at being blamed for causing a devastating blaze at Fulford Place in York, which swept through 50 apartments.

The 32-year-old said he was 100 miles away from York on his way to Aintree racecourse when the fire broke out on the roof of his top-floor flat.

Fire chiefs have revealed that the blaze started from a small piece of cloth, but it is not yet known what ignited it. Residents believe it was a discarded cigarette.

Mr Williams, a jockeys' agent and sales executive, said that he was forced to change his mobile phone number after crank callers repeatedly phoned him to shout abuse.

To make matters worse, he had no contents insurance and is believed to have lost about £20,000 worth of property when his flat was gutted.

"I've been getting crank calls so I had to change my phone," he said.

"They were trying to accuse me of starting the fire. It didn't start in my apartment, but on it. I'm sick and tired of people thinking it was me. I wasn't even there.

"I got a phone call to say that the apartments were on fire, so I just turned round and drove straight back. It was devastating." Mr Williams has called for a meeting between residents and the building's developers, Taylor Woodrow, and its management company CPM.

"I won't be moving back in," he said.

"People need to be a bit more sympathetic."

A spokesman for the fire service said the investigation into the blaze was still being conducted.

The Evening Press recently reported a meeting of the Fulford flat residents at which fire chiefs revealed that thousands of roadside hydrants across the county had not been checked because of Government red tape.

Steve Cluderay, York fire station manager, has offered residents a free home fire safety risk assessment when they move back into the Fulford Place complex, in order to reassure them that they were returning to a safe environment.

Updated: 10:20 Thursday, June 02, 2005