FIREFIGHTERS battled to stop a raging mill blaze spreading to a nearby petrol station in Brandlesholme.

Flames were shooting through the roof of the building when the crews arrived at 11pm on Thursday and there were fears that flames could reach the filling station across the road.

The disused building used to be the Bury Boot and Shoe Factory. Arsonists are being blamed for the fire.

Around 40 firefighters spent nearly an hour bringing the blaze under control after it ripped through the centre of the building off Brandlesholme Road.

They remained at the scene throughout the early hours of Friday.

Firefighters initially feared that children were still in the burning building when fire crews reached the premises and a team was quickly sent in to search the property.

Six officers wearing breathing apparatus entered the smoke-choked mill and carried out a fingertip search of the site while their colleagues tackled the flames.

Leading Firefighter Gary Wilkinson from Bury Fire Station said the factory had been burning for some time before nearby residents raised the alarm.

He said: "When we arrived, the flames were shooting through the roof and spreading through the middle of the factory quite quickly.

"A petrol station is adjacent to the mill and it was feared the fire could cause an explosion. Six hose reels, and the Alpine aerial ladder, were used to tackle the blaze which we had under control within an hour and the fire was fully extinguished shortly after midnight. It was a sterling effort by all the lads."

Two fire crews from Bury and pumps from Whitefield and Ramsbottom were joined by specialist units from Bolton, Blackley and Manchester at the height of the blaze.

Two hours before the factory fire was spotted, firefighters from Whitefield were called to a fire at a work site off Woodhill Road, a short distance from the mill,

Both fires are being treated as malicious although it is not clear whether they are linked.