Twenty-six people in West Yorkshire have used fire to attempt to kill themselves in the last seven years.

And 11 of those people lost their lives.

At a meeting of West Yorkshire Fire Authority yesterday, members were given a "sobering" presentation on the harrowing topic of suicide by fire.

It had been prompted by five suicide attempts in the West Yorkshire area in a short space of time last year.

Between 2010 and 2017 there had been three incidents in Bradford where people died after deliberately starting a fire to kill themselves. There were a further four incidents in the district where people attempted suicide by fire but survived.

Four people in Leeds died in incidents classed as suicide by fire in that time period.

Chris Kirby, area manager, told members of the authority that although only a relatively small number of people who attempt suicide use this method, it was important that members of the fire service were prepared to deal with such incidents, and how to deal with people contemplating suicide.

He told members that the majority of the people in West Yorkshire who had attempted suicide by fire were men, and they ranged in ages from teenagers to one person in their 80s.

Younger people were more likely to survive.

The presentation revealed that people were more likely to attempt suicide by fire when they were alone, and most cases happened in the home.

A number of other cases happened in secluded outdoors areas. He said one incident saw a man travel to a wooded area of Leeds to set himself on fire.

Other people attempted suicide by fire while in a vehicle.

And other incidents took place in hospitals or prison.

He said: "This is still a relatively small number in terms of methods of suicide chosen.

"It is a very sobering subject, and one that is difficult to talk about, but the more we talk about it the more our staff learn about how they can deal with and help people who have these thoughts."

He said training would be offered to staff to help them deal with high risk people.

Councillor Lisa Holmes from Kirklees Council urged other members to get training, recalling an incident when one of her constituents called her to say they were planning to kill themselves. The person did not go ahead with it, but Cllr Holmes said she had been unprepared for such an incident. She added: "If you get the chance do the training - it is awful to get a phone call like that."