Barnet defender James Pearson has signed a contract until the end of next season with the option of another year in the club's favour.

The former Leicester City defender, 23, only joined the Bees on a non-contract basis at the beginning of February.

However, Pearson has been hugely impressive in his short time at The Hive making five apppearances for Martin Allen's side.

He is now contracted to Barnet until the end of the 2016/17 season and the Bees have the option to extend his deal by 12 months.

"I'm looking forward to carrying on keeping up the good work in the rest of the games this season and pushing on next year," said Pearson.

"I think I've done fairly well slotting in. But it's not just about me, it's about the team.

"I think in the past five games I've been involved in, apart from the unfortunate result against Wimbledon where we weren't at our best, I think we've done very well as a team.

"You never know how far we can go this season but we will take each game as it comes."

Pearson, who was sacked by Leicester following his part in sex tape on a club tour of Thailand, has previously spent time on loan at Wrexham, Carlisle United and Peterborough United on loan.