Arsonists caused more than £3,000 of damage to a pizza restaurant by pouring petrol through the letterbox and setting it alight.

The entrance to Papa John's, in the Martlets shopping centre, Burgess Hill, was wrecked, the door and glass melted and warped and the restaurant is covered in thick black soot.

Defiant owner Dominic Smith, who was about to celebrate the restaurant's first anniversary, is determined not to let the attack affect his business.

He hopes the pizza parlour will be up and running again by tomorrow night.

Mr Smith, 33, of Burgess Hill, was woken by a phone call at 4.20am telling him the alarm in the shop was going off.

When he arrived at the shop he found smoke billowing from the entrance and a fire smouldering inside the door.

He called the fire brigade and a crew from Burgess Hill was sent to the restaurant but the fire had burnt itself out by their arrival just after 5am.

The police arrived shortly afterwards.

Mr Smith, who runs Papa John's with his partner Amanda Kay, said: "It's a terrible thing to happen to a young business.

"We're only a month away from our first anniversary but we won't let it affect us. I've absolutely no idea who would have done this or why.

"The alarm has gone off before when windows have been broken, so I really wasn't expecting this.

"We will have to replace the ceiling throughout."

Fire fighters checked the electrics to see if a fault had caused the blaze but soon discovered petrol fumes.