A DISABLED pensioner’s ‘lifeline’ has been destroyed by arsonists who torched his car.

David Lodge, 67, was left devastated when his yellow Hyundai exploded after it was set alight yesterday morning.

Ninety minutes earlier another car was also torched in Darwen and police believe the two incidents could be linked.

Mr Lodge’s daughter Donna Robinson, 36, from Darwen, said her dad, who is in poor health, would now struggle to get out of his house every day as the car was a ‘vital part of his life.’ Community leaders slam-med the arsonists and described them as the ‘scum of the earth’.

The 3am blast which destroyed Mr Lodge’s car was so loud it was heard more than a mile away by firefighters at Darwen fire station in Union Street.

When they arrived at the blaze in the car park of the Punch Hotel, The Chapels, Darwen it had spread to an Audi A6 parked next to the Hyundai.

Earlier at 1.30am the same firefighters had been called to Cloister Drive, Darwen, under 1.5miles away when a Citroen Xantia was set alight.

Mr Lodge, from Darwen, who suffers from emphysema, a degenerative lung disease, bought the car 10 years ago.

Due to his deteriorating health he has relied heavy on the vehicle to get him around, his family said.

He said he was extremely upset at the loss of the car.

His daughter Donna said: “My dad is devastated. It is his lifeline. He is disabled and uses his car on a daily basis.

“He and a friend had met up for a few drinks after he had been on holiday.

“Instead of driving the car home after having a drink he left it in the car park.

“I got a call at 8am in the morning to tell me what had happened. We went down and had a look.

“Because of his condition he can’t walk very far. He needs his car to do everything.

“It is a vital part of his life. I don’t know how he is going to get around. I can’t drive.

“We’ll have to see if any relatives can drive him round until everything gets sorted out.

“People need to grow up and learn that people can’t just go out and buy a new car.”

Mayor of Darwen Coun Paul Browne said: “That car was his life.

“It really gets to me that a disabled man’s lifeline has been destroyed. It is absolutely disgusting.

“The people who have done this are the scum of the earth.

“We should bring back corporal punishment and bring back national service. That is how serious and strong I feel about this.”

Sudell Councillor Roy Davies said: “It is terrible, it has destroyed his life.

“The people who do this have no respect for who they are hurting.”

A police spokeswoman said: “We are treating two car fires that took place in Darwen in the early hours of yesterday morning as suspicious.

“We are investigating the possibility that the two incidents were linked.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact police.”