Two arsonists face being locked up for starting fires that damaged several cars in Medway.

Tyler Turner and a teenager who cannot be named because of his age, burgled Regency Motor Company at The Brook in Chatham and stole a safe.

Turner then started a fire in the office which spread to cars for sale parked outside.

The 21-year-old, of Ryde Close, Princes Park, Chatham, and the boy, aged 15, admitted burglary.

Turner also admitted aggravated car-taking. He denied arson, but was convicted.

The teenager, who was 13 at the time, also denied arson of the car yard and was acquitted. He admitted six other arson offences in which cars were damaged.

The pair broke into the car company in the early hours of March 25 2015. The stolen safe contained £1,300 and 19 car keys.

“They set fire to the Portakabin causing extensive damage and the fire damaged a number of cars parked close to it,” prosecutor Simon Sandford told Maidstone Crown Court.

A Land Rover Discovery was taken from the forecourt. Turner then crashed into a parked Vauxhall Astra.

The teenager also set fire to a Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Mazda, Ford Mondeo, Ford Ka, BMW and a Smart car on April 29, 2015 in the Walderslade area in the space of a few hours.

Regency Motors boss of 20 years Eric Parish had been at the business on March 24 and left in the early evening.

At about 1.15am the next morning his son told him the car yard was on fire. The police and fire service were called.

“By the time he got there the fire was put out,” said Mr Sandford. “There was extensive damage to his Portakabin.

“There was just a hole in the ground where the safe had been. A number of vehicles were damaged.”

Turner later sent a Facebook message to Mr Parish apologising, but blaming the teenager for starting the fire.

The stolen safe was found at the home of Turner’s mother in Canterbury Street, Gillingham. The boy told police all the money had all been spent.

Mr Sandford said Turner’s mobile phone contained a photo of him and the boy together.

The teenager was holding an aerosol and toilet roll, which demonstrated “an interest in starting a fire”.

Turner and the teenager will return to court tomorrow when a date for sentence will be set.