A man started a £250,000 barn fire in which 13 calves died - in revenge after a road-gritting farmer sprayed his clothes, a court heard.

Gary Dickson, 48, formerly of Llanfair TH, near Abergele, was jailed for four years and three months after he admitted arson at the village.

Mold crown court heard the farmer was gritting roads on his tractor in December when Dickson, who’d been on foot after sledging, made it difficult to pass.

Grit was sprayed on the defendant’s clothes and shoes, and he became irate.

A few hours later Dickson found the tractor, with hay nearby, and started the blaze.

Judge David Hale said it had been a “petty dispute.”

The prosecution said 36 calves were saved.