POLICE are hunting a schizophrenic arsonist who has escaped from a secure mental home.

Simon Moss, who was detained indefinitely in September after torching a pensioner’s home in Brighton, went missing from Southview in Hellingly, near Hailsham, on Wednesday.

Sussex Police and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service urged the public to get in touch if they spotted him.

A police spokesman said: “We have had several reported sightings of him in the past few days, including several on the road between Uckfield and Isfield, but none has been confirmed.”

Police suggested he may have headed to Eastbourne or Hailsham, which he had visited, or Brighton, where he used to live.

In September, a judge ordered the 38-year-old, who previously lived in Highcroft Villas, Brighton, to be detained in hospital until doctors and the Ministry of Justice considered it safe for him to be released.

In December 2007, he smashed a brick through the front door of a 78-yearold neighbour’s home while she was inside.

He then poured petrol through the hole and set it alight.

The pensioner escaped but was left homeless at Christmas.

Moss was later arrested at his home, where police found him sitting on his bed saying he wanted to “burn the whole world”.

In scribbled notes, he had set out plans to “burn houses and occupants alive for ever”.

The court heard how Moss believed he was a spy, a member of the SAS and the Russian and US Secret Services.

He had taken medication for schizophrenia for seven years but had stopped taking it for a year leading up to the attack.

Police described him as white, 5ft 6in, with ginger hair and sometimes wearing glasses. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, grey trousers, blue shirt and white trainers and was known to often use public transport.

Anyone with information should call 0845 6070999.

andy.chiles @theargus.co.uk