AN irate man who declared ‘war’ on Burnley Jobcentre warned staff would need body armour, a court was told.

Darren Wilkes, 41, had doused himself in petrol and threatened to set himself alight at the premises.

And he told a call centre worker: “I have been in Burnley before with a can of petrol and if I have to, I will do it again.”

The town’s magistrates heard how ‘depressed and anxious’ Wilkes, who was upset at being jobless, was said to have become ‘infuriated by the bureaucracy’ involved when applying for benefits.

The hearing was told the defendant sometimes went out for walks at 5am to try and calm himself down.

The defendant, of Kime Street, Burnley, admitted sending by the public communication network an offensive or obscene or menacing matter on February 29.

He was given a 12 month supervision order.

Prosecutor Andrew Robinson, said Wilkes made threats over the phone to a female staff member at a Jobcentre call centre in Manchester.

He became increasingly angry when told there would be a delay in processing a payment because staff didn't have the documents they needed to help him.

Mr Robinson said Wilkes told the employee: “Tell Burnley Jobcentre to be on red alert. I'm at breaking point. Tell them to get body armour for their staff. This is war.”

A supervisor listening to the call was very concerned, contacted Burnley about the call as he was concerned about employees’ safety and called police.

The defendant was arrested and interviewed and claimed the call taker was winding him up.

The court heard he had been given supervision in August 2010, for threats to commit damage.

David Lawson, for Wilkes, said he had worked for many years at Fort Vale Engineering and had lost his job. It had impacted upon him very badly, to such an extent he thought it had contributed to his depressive illness.

Mr Lawson said: “He said things over the phone which he now recognises were entirely inappropriate and he apologises for that behaviour.”

The bench told the defendant the call taker was a public servantr and deserved to be treated with respect.