Wigan man arrested on suspicion of setting dozens of bin fires in town centre

Over recent months Hindley and its local fire crews have been dogged by numerous blazes, many in the early hours of the morning, in public waste paper and industrial bins.

For the most part the damage has been confined to the containers, but in one instance – early on Sunday June 26 – the Tesco Extra store on Cross Street suffered damage because the large bin was so close to its premises.

Two glass panels shattered and plastic canopy melted during the 4.40am blaze.

On another occasion a fire was set in an industrial bin near to Alison’s Restaurant on Worthington Street.

Now a spokesperson for GMP Leigh, Atherton and Hindley has posted on social media: “A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson in relation to recent incidents in Hindley town centre.

"He has been released on bail while inquiries continue.”

Firefighter Steven Hall from Hindley fire station said: “We’ve been attending dozens of small fires in the town centre over the last few months.

"Most of them are relatively inconsequential, but they do a) cause damage and inconvenience with bins being put out of use and b) mean a lot of work for our crews, not least in the small hours of the morning.

"And then there was the one in an industrial bin outside Tesco last month which did cause damage to the store itself.

"We were concerned at the number of these incidents and thought that they couldn’t all be random. And then there is the risk of arsonists starting off small and then things getting bigger and more dangerous.”