TAIPEI - A TAIWANESE man's show of love for his girlfriend backfired when an arrangement of candles in the shape of the words 'I love you' started a blaze at a hotel.

The couple found their room aflame when they walked in 40 minutes after the man, identified by his surname Lin, lit the candles, local media reported yesterday.

He had wanted to give his girlfriend a surprise to celebrate their first anniversary together on May 31.

He was arrested by the police later and brought to trial, according to a report in the China Post newspaper.

He was charged with endangering public safety.

Lin, a frozen-food deliveryman, agreed to pay the suburban Taipei hotel NT$120,000 (S$5,400) for damage caused by the blaze, media reported.

A county prosecutor later ordered him to write a letter of apology and make a donation of NT$30,000 to a family-and-children fund, according to the media and a county spokesman.

REUTERS