A MANHUNT was under way in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight today after a prison blunder saw a man who had been jailed for 30 months released after just 30 days.

Christopher Pocock, 53, was jailed for a horrific arson attack and was described by prison sources as an extremely dangerous man.

The Daily Echo understands that he set fire to a property with people inside, including a baby. He is also thought to have threatened a woman with a 12in kitchen knife.

Officials at the Home Office admitted the blunder had occurred but could not say why it had happened.

Instead they said a full investigation had been launched and the results would be made public.

It is the latest in a long line of mistakes attributed to the Home Office, including the release and subsequent loss of scores of foreign prisoners, and the loss of convicted sex offenders who have disappeared after being released on parole.

Police are now hunting for Pocock, who was jailed on March 14 after a court in Newport, Isle of Wight, convicted him of arson.

They heard how he had set fire to a house in Sandown while children were still inside last year.

He was subsequently sent to Camp Hill Prison on the Isle of Wight, but was released yesterday after an official mistakenly believed he had served his time.

A spokesman for HM Prison Service said: "On occasion, a release in error does occur, but they are very rare.

"The Prison Service will be conducting an internal investigation and the police are currently looking for this man."

Meanwhile a spokesman for Hampshire Constabu-lary confirmed the force had been put on alert and that officers were engaged in a hunt for him.

Camp Hill is a jail for category C offenders - the lowest risk apart from those in open prisons - on the outskirts of Newport, Isle of Wight.

It has a capacity of 585 prisoners.