An Australian man is in a critical condition in hospital after he became engulfed in flames when he was shot by police with a Taser gun.

Police officer demonstrating a Taser gun Photo: PA

The incident took place in the West Australian remote desert community of Warburton after police approached a house where the man and others were sniffing petrol, intending to arrest them.

It is unclear how the 36-year-old man, named by local media as Ronald Marshall, was set alight, but family members told the Australian newspaper that his body burst into flames after the Taser hit him on the bridge of his nose.