YOUNG arsonists are believed to have sparked off a blaze which damaged part of a former factory in Oswaldtwistle.

Children are thought to have been using the old shopfitter's mill, Stonebridge Lane, as a makeshift den before the fire at 1.30pm on Sunday.

Watch manager John Pinner said: "We don't know where they have broken into the premises as we had to break padlocks in order to gain entry."

Various household items which had been stored inside, including a number of three-piece suites, were destroyed by the flames.