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Further damage has been caused to a Wigan borough church – 10 years after it was shut down.

The former St Thomas’s on Chapel Street in Leigh, has been boarded up since it held its last services in 2013 and has since fallen into disrepair, has been used by rough sleepers and been a target for vandals.

A large number of firefighters were called to the scene at 4pm on Thursday October 27 when it was reported that the church was ablaze.

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Firefighter remove slates from the lychgate roof at the former St Thomas's church to ensure all the flames were out

When they arrived it turned out that it was in fact the lychgate (the gated entrance arch to the grounds) which was on fire.

The flames had also spread to nearby trees and scrub.

A crew from Leigh fire station quickly doused the flames then dismantled part of the gate’s roof to ensure that the fire was completely out.

Ignited rubbish was identified as the cause.

A spokesman said: “Quite a lot of resources were used at the incident initially, partly because the first reports suggested the church itself was on fire and also because people have been known to sleep and stay there.

"As it turned out no-one was harmed and it was a relatively minor incident involving the gate.”

Crews were at the scene for about an hour.

Historic Wigan borough church lychgate damaged by blaze

A spokesman said: “Quite a lot of resources were used at the incident initially, partly because the first reports suggested the church itself was on fire and also because people have been known to sleep and stay there.

"As it turned out no-one was harmed and it was a relatively minor incident involving the gate.”