A TEENAGER who burned down a Merseyside country club has been locked up for four years.

Roy Pearson, 15, was one of two youths involved in a petrol attack on the Chinese restaurant at Shorrocks Hill, in Formby, in June.

An independent loss adjuster has estimated the cost of damage from the fire, which ripped through Oriental @ Shorrocks, leaving just charred remains, would be in the region of £750,000.

But that excludes fixtures, fittings and loss of business and earning.

With these included, the true cost of the fire is set to top £1m.

Liverpool Crown Court yesterday heard that Pearson, a habitual cannabis smoker and school failure, was paid just £500 for his part in the arson attack.

Jason Smith, prosecuting, said “an associate” of Pearson, of Lyme Grove, Huyton, took a phone call on June 14 where he was offered money to go and burn down a pub.

The friend, whom Pearson has “steadfastly” refused to name, offered the defendant £500 to become involved, Mr Smith said. In the early hours of the next morning, the pair went to Shorrocks Hill, in Lifeboat Road, in Formby.

According to the basis of plea that Pearson entered, his friend brought with them a full petrol can.

They smashed a window, threw petrol inside and lit it before running away.