A GLASGOW pub has offered £1000 worth of macaroni cheese as a reward to help snare firebugs who torched their beer garden.

Police are hunting five youths who set fire to garden furniture outside Sloans in the city centre, at around 1.30am yesterday.

CCTV images show a group of young men setting light to a large bar umbrella in the bar's patio area, next to the Argyll Arcade.

The flames quickly spread, destroying the outdoor seating area, causing more than £3500 worth of damage.

Now, Sloans' general manager Nicola Wilkinson is offering £1000 worth of macaroni cheese in a bid to catch those responsible.

She said: "We're offering a reward of £1000 worth of our gourmet macaroni cheese for information which leads to the arrest of any of the five idiots who set fire to our furniture.

"We're famous across the city for our gourmet macaroni cheese and regularly sell thousands of plates to our customers every week.

"We couldn't think of a better way to tempt folk to pick up the phone than with the reward of a £1000 worth of mac and cheese."

CCTV footage shows that the dozy firebugs also posed for photographs, as the blaze swept through the patio.

Police said nobody was injured in the fire.

Nicola added: "We're very lucky the fire didn't spread to the pub entrance, as it could have caused a huge amount of damage.

"Thankfully, no-one was on site at the time of the fire."

Sloans, one of the oldest pubs in Glasgow, began life as a coaching inn, from where the London and Edinburgh stages would leave.

Established in 1797, it only became known as Sloans in 1897.

It was named after landlord David Sloan, a former manager of the Horse Shoe Bar in Drury Street.

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police, said: "The incident is being treated as suspicious. Our inquiries are ongoing."

Pub bosses have also posted CCTV of the fire on YouTube in a bid to identify the culprits.

rebecca.gray@ heraldandtimes.co.uk