Firemen in Hindley were called out to a stretch of dirt track off Maple Avenue on Friday night after more than 30 tyres were set on fire.

It is believed they had been dumped the night before.
Watch commander Gareth Gray said: "This is a well known fly-tipping spot and something needs to be done.

"These tyres appear to have been dumped the night before and then set on fire.

"I will be contacting the Environment Agency and Wigan Council to see if some sort of barricade can be put in place to stop this kind of action in future.

"Because of its location, it was very hard to put out and obviously had the effect of diverting resources away from potentially more serious fires elsewhere."

Fire crews spent an hour and a half at the scene after being called at 10.30pm.

Wigan Council said it worked in partnership with the fire service and would investigate but that the problem at this spot had become so bad the Environment Agency was investigating.

A spokesman said: "We work very closely with the fire service to take action wherever possible and stop the scourge of fly-tipping.
"We have already taken out a lot of successful prosecutions and are getting the message across that this is unacceptable.

"Where we can work on sites we will but, in this case, the site is being dealt with by the Environment Agency."

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "We have not had any reports of waste tyres being burnt in the Maple Avenue area of Hindley Green on Friday evening. However, we can confirm that in the past, there has been a problem with fly-tipping in this area.

"Environment Agency officers will investigate this matter further.
"Through intelligence led enforcement we are taking an active approach to the serious issue of tyre disposal in the region.

"We encourage members of the public to report any information to our hotline on 0800 80 70 60."