A tourist blamed for causing a fatal fire on Table Mountain in South Africa could be sued for hundreds of thousands of pounds by Cape Town authorities.

Salesman Anthony Cooper, 36, from Brighton, was accused of starting the fire that killed an elderly British woman in January after tossing a burning cigarette out of his car window.

He has since been forced to remain in the Western Cape province until a hearing on May 26 where he will face charges of arson and culpable homicide.

The case had been scheduled to come to court sooner but authorities are still waiting for a post-mortem report on 65-year-old Janet Chesworth who died in the fire.

Cooper may also now face civil charges taken against him by Cape Town mayor Helen Zille.

The mayor has ordered her officials to take action against Cooper - if he is convicted - in a bid to recover up to three million rand (£270,000) to cover the costs of measures taken to prevent mudslides, which may result from the loss of trees on the mountain.

The fire, which Mr Cooper is alleged to have started by throwing a burning cigarette out of his car window, left the land unstable and dangerous.

A spokesman for the mayor said: "We are exploring the possibility of claiming that amount from him or from his insurance. It will depend on whether he is found to have caused the fire. It would cover the cost of emergency planning.

"The stripping of the vegetation caused by the fire made the land very loose."

More than 150 firefighters tackled the inferno which broke out near a cable car that transports hundreds of people daily up Table Mountain and threatened some of Cape Town's plushest suburbs.

Fanned by high winds, the fire spread so quickly it left little time for emergency services to warn people they were facing one of the worst blazes ever to hit the area.

Information provided by the victim's daughter is thought to have led police to Cooper. Two other British tourists suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Fires are common during the dry season but officials said the blaze was the worst they had ever seen.