FIREFIGHTERS are blaming arsonists for a blaze which badly damaged an empty pub.

Two crews from Blackburn were called to the Little Harwood pub, in Whalley Old Road, Blackburn, at around 2am today.

They arrived to find the place well alight and called for back up.

Blackburn station officer Peter Frazer said the derelict pub had been boarded up although a board at the back had been pulled away.

He said: "We are treating it as suspicious and the police are investigating."

The former bar and lounge areas in the pub were destroyed and the stair case was badly damaged. The rest of the pub was damaged by smoke.

Station officer Frazer said crews were expected back at the pub, which is on the end of a row of terrace houses, today to investigate further.