Wigan farm torched and house destroyed in 60 minutes of mayhem

A Wigan farm has been torched and a house "destroyed" by a large gang of youths.
Firefighters were at the scene for around an hourFirefighters were at the scene for around an hour
Firefighters were at the scene for around an hour

Police have launched an investigation into the arson and anti-social attacks, which took place over the course of around an hour this afternoon (Saturday).

Firefighters were called to the farmland off Landgate Lane in Ashton at around 4.30pm.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On arriving they found that a caravan had been set alight inside a farm building and a house on the same land had been "smashed up".

Crews also found that two other fires had been set, one just past the barn and one in a wheelie bin in front of the house.

Crew manager Martin Pike, said that the gang of around 15 youths, who were captured on CCTV, had also tried to set fire to the house leaving "burn marks" on the property.

"The occupant luckily wasn't there at the time," he said. "The owners are devastated.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"All of the windows on the house have been put through. They smashed up a caravan, smashed up a car, set fire to another caravan inside the barn.

"There is substantial damage to the property, no one will be able to live in there for the time being.

"I watched the CCTV footage, they were like rats. There were around five of them to start with then they just started swarming in smashing things up over the space of about an hour.

"It's like they were trying to cause as much damage as possible."

Fire crews remained at the scene for around an hour.

Anyone with information is asked to contact on police on 101.