A 29-year-old man is due to appear at crown court this week after being charged over a suspected double arson attack in High Wycombe.

Richard Thomas, of Buckingham Close, was charged with “two counts of arson with intent/ reckless as to whether life was endangered” on Friday, police confirmed, following a blaze in West Wycombe Road.

He appeared at Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on the same day and is now due to appear at crown court this Friday.

The charges relate to a blaze at a property in West Wycombe Road on the evening of Thursday, February 19, and a second fire in the same building in the early hours of Friday morning.

Five people had to be rescued from the property by firefighters and one was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.