Firefighters have hit out at mindless youths who lit a series of deliberate fires along the canal in Accrington.

Crews were diverted for around an hour as they were forced to deal with the fires.

Officers said the deliberate fires put the public at risk, as crews from Accrington fire station were unable to deal with other incidents until all the canal fires were extinguished.

Crew manager Chris Archer said his teams were called out to the canal behind Dill Hall Lane at 9.20pm on Tuesday after receiving reports of two youths lighting fires.

Around half a dozen blazes were lit along the canal in total, from Dill Hall Lane, to Church Hall, down to Clayton-le-Moors.

Some of the fires could be seen from the road, and Mr Archer said the police had been informed about the incidents.

Chris Archer said: “We received reports of two youths lighting fires down the canal.

“We went to the canal behind Dill Hall Lane and we had to follow them down the canal putting fires out.

“We put out about five or six fires in total. We used beaters to put them out.

“We were following them for around a mile or a mile and a half.

“This meant that the fire engine wasn’t available while we were following them, dealing with these mindless acts.”

A police spokeswoman said: “If anyone has any information about the fires, call police on 101.”