ARSONISTS are being blamed for a huge blaze which ripped through a two-storey building in Whitefield.

At its height, 25 firefighters tackled the outbreak at the empty Street Furniture premises within a fenced compound in Victoria Lane.

Fire crews had been called out to the same building only two hours earlier to extinguish a blaze involving a number of timber pallets.

Officers were again summoned to the scene at 9pm on Sunday (April 28) when a fierce blaze took hold in the upper floor of the building.

Six appliances from Whitefield, Broughton, Bury and Eccles were initially involved in fighting the blaze which took an hour to bring under control.

Six firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building to tackle the blaze from within while colleagues worked from the outside.

Officers spent around five hours at the scene and were later involved in damping down operations.

Station Officer Ian McKenzie, based at Broughton, said: "Overall, this was a very large building and the blaze was confined to a two-storey section.

"We had initially been called out at 7pm to the fire involving the pallets before returning two hours later.

"On the second occasion, there were a number of seats of fire right throughout the building. I'd say there was fire damage to around 70 per cent of that section."

The building was virtually empty inside, apart from some rubbish. It is understood the building is currently under re-development.

The cause of the blaze is being put down as deliberate, and police are investigating the incident.