Large fire breaks out at popular fish and chip shop

The fire broke out at The New Chippery, on Market Street, at around 11.30am today.

The owner was said to have tried to tackle the fire himself, but then evacuated his staff and customers and called the emergency services.

Smoke was seen billowing from the building as the flames took hold.

Five fire engines attended, with crews coming from Wigan, Hindley, Horwich and Skelmersdale fire stations.

Passers-by reported delays in firefighters getting to the chip shop, as bollards blocking access for the vehicles could not be moved. The fire service declined to comment on this.

When crews did arrive at the shop, they dragged their hose to the blaze and went into the building wearing breathing apparatus.

The fire had started in the basement and led to a gas pipe there rupturing, so crews worked to isolate the gas supply.

They had to come out of the building at one point and the cordon outside was extended due to the risk.

Crews went back into the shop and worked to the tackle the fire.

The shop was destroyed in the blaze and smoke spread to neighbouring properties.

A drone was used to check for any remaining flames in the roof of the building and fire crews remained at the shop throughout the afternoon.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is now under way.

Isaac Olurankinse, watch manager at Wigan fire station, said: "The cause is still under investigation.

"It ended up being five fire-fighting appliances and a specialist control unit and we had an air unit as well to check the hot spots in the roof voids."