A 34-year-old Cuban man is recovering in the serious burns unit of Sevilla's Virgen del Rocío Hospital following an extraordinary incident at a service station in his adopted home town of Linares which occurred at 3.30am this morning.

Arriving on foot and carrying a bag, the man asked the pump attendant to fill an empty plastic bottle with petrol.

When this request was refused, the man took out a second bottle containing solvent, which he used to set fire to himself.

The attendant reacted quickly, putting out the flames with a fire extinguisher before calling the emergency services.