A DRUNKEN Wirral man who deliberately started a blaze in a wheelie bin outside an office block has been sent to prison indefinitely.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Christopher Bailey also has a previous conviction for another arson offence.

Judge Brian Lewis ruled that he presents a significant risk of serious harm to the public and imposed an indeterminate sentence for public protection.

Bailey, 22, must serve two years before he can apply for parole though Judge Lewis warned him that did not mean he would automatically be released then.

Geoffrey Greenwood, prosecuting, said that in the early hours of June 4 a security guard at Egerton House in Birkenhead saw two men outside and one approached the door.

The guard told him to go away and Bailey then went to a wheelie bin and set fire to the rubbish inside and his juvenile companion set fire to another one and they left the scene.

They came back about ten minutes later and Bailey re-ignited the fire in the bin which was against a window of the building.

The police and fire brigade were called and Bailey, who had been detained by the security guard, was arrested.

The court heard that it took 900 litres of water to extinguish the blaze which fire officers said had the potential to set the building alight.

Bailey, of Beta Close, New Ferry, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless whether life was endangered.

Anna Duke, defending, said that Bailey had drunk four pints of lager quickly so he could get a T-shirt in a drinks promotion.