Arson attack on new Wigan road safety camera

Pictures posted on social media show a fire blazing around the base of the new safety device which had been erected on Warrington Road in Platt Bridge a short time earlier.

Details are sketchy but it is believed that the flames were dealt with very quickly by a single fire crew from Hindley station at around 1.35am today (September 10) and the police were brought in.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority, who speak on behalf of firefighters, said it was a matter for the police and Greater Manchester Police themselves only said that investigations were ongoing.

It is not clear whether the camera was disabled by the incident or not.

But it is the latest in a series of devices to have been subjected to vandalism in Wigan over the last year, costing the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds for replacements.

Previous incidents have seen the support poles sawn down using an angle grinder or a similar tool. At least on one occasion, the crimes endangered road users after the pole fell into the road.

A man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage earlier this year and remains under investigation.