A Thornton Heath man who hoarded fireworks in a plot to bomb a Morden mosque will be jailed later today.

Steven Bishop, 41, also had instructions on how to build explosives when he was arrested by counter terror police.

He had researched explosive detonators and searched online for the Morden mosque, detectives discovered.

Bishop will be sentenced on Wednesday at Kingston Crown Court for possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause damage to property.

He admitted the charge as his trial was due to begin on Monday and has also pleaded guilty to possession of information likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism, specifically a handwritten note on how to make explosives.

Bishop, who has a history of mental health problems, was arrested at his house on October 29 2018 after he showed one of his key workers images of objects he said he was collecting to build "a bomb" to target a mosque.

Commander Clarke Jarrett, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: "From our investigation it was clear Bishop stockpiled a quantity of fireworks and other component parts with the intention of creating a device that he was intending to use to target a mosque.

"Thanks to the diligence of his key worker in alerting us we were able to intervene before he could progress with his plans any further and crucially, nobody came to any harm."

Bishop had initially told police he had fireworks to let off at his mother's house in south-west London.

But when detectives searched his house they found some fireworks which had been tampered with, along with fuses, a remote control and ignitor.

A firing device was also delivered to his house two days after his arrest.

Police discovered he had researched the Manchester, London Bridge and Paris terror attacks using a phone he bought on October 18.

He commented on a Facebook video about victims of the Manchester attack: "Don't worry something bad is going to happen soon mark my words."

A search of his phone also uncovered two VPN apps, designed to disguise online activity, which were used to research explosive detonators and the Morden mosque.

Further searches at his mother's house also uncovered components for making incendiary devices hidden in a suitcase in the garden shed.

Hand-written notes by Bishop with detailed information on how to make various explosive substances, as well as information on how to access the dark web, were also found by police.

He was charged a week after his arrest on November 5 2018.