AN Animal Liberation Front fanatic was convicted yesterday of plotting a firebombing campaign across Britain. David Callender, 37, who had been at the forefront of ALF campaigns for more than 10 years, was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of conspiring to damage property.

The court had been told that a police surveillance operation had uncovered an ALF "bomb factory" containing enough detonators and timers to make more than 100 petrol bombs. Detectives also found a meticulous, handwritten "reconnaissance log" detailing specific targets.

Judge David Matthews said he would sentence Callender, unemployed, of Waterloo, Liverpool, today following his conviction after a four-week trial.

Police said last night that, if they had not foiled the planned incendiary bomb campaign in October 1994, it would have devastated animal-linked businesses and organisations. Det Chief Insp Roger Simpson, of West Midlands police, said: "We are convinced that this man was very close to initiating a widespread campaign over a long period.

"If he had been successful, he could have caused millions of pounds of damage which could easily have resulted in someone being killed.

"A bomb had already been tested and we believe the bombings were due to start soon after our raid."

Police foiled the plot because an ALF activist, believed to be Callender, used the same false name of Johnson when he returned to a kitchen equipment wholesalers in Harrow, north London, to order 60 timers.

Callender, who is a history graduate of Liverpool University, was a well-known animal rights activist on Merseyside. He masterminded a series of sabotage campaigns aimed at disrupting the Waterloo Cup, Britain's premier hare coursing event.

Detectives had traced kitchen timers used during an ALF campaign in 1991 to the wholesalers, and by coincidence the purchaser spoke to the woman who had taken the original order. She immediately told the Metropolitan Police and, two days after a surveillance operation was mounted at the wholesalers, Callender arrived to pick up the timers.

He was followed to a "safe house" in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, which had been rented in a false name six months earlier. Two days later, he was arrested after he travelled to Cambridge to reconnoitre a pig farm.

When the house in Birmingham was searched, detectives found a supply of exploding devices used to create bangs on stage, which had been modified into bomb detonators. Lists of dozens of petrol filling stations throughout Birmingham were also discovered.

The reconnaissance log detailed 16 targets, including cattle farmers, abattoirs, egg producers, horse breeders, animal transport firms and businesses involved in the storage of meat.

The targets included the Cambridge Hunt at Kennet, Cambs; the British Association of Shooting, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; and the Milk Marketing Board. The log also gave "shopping lists" of materials to make explosives; details of routes to be taken to the targets; security measures and escape routes.

Det Chief Insp Simpson said it was clear from the log that Callender had been inside some of the premises. He knew which door bolts were easy or difficult to open and where security alarms were sited.

Callender, who is a history graduate of Liverpool University, was a well-known animal rights activist on Merseyside. He masterminded a series of sabotage campaigns aimed at disrupting the Waterloo Cup, Britain's premier hare coursing event, held annually at Altcar, near Liverpool.

His co-accused, Gregg Avery, 28, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, was acquitted of the same charge of conspiracy to damage property.