Flats evacuated due to blaze

Fire crews were called to the address at High Street in Atherton at around 7.20pm on Thursday.

The block had to be evacuated and firefighters discovered two people who were supposed to be in the flats were not there.

However, a search of the local area enabled them to be accounted for.

Crews spent more than an hour tackling the blaze, which caused severe damage to the flat where it broke out.

The flat above it had minor damage from the flames and there was also heavy smoke damage in the building.

The blaze will now be the subject of a police investigation and fire crews remained at the scene throughout the night.

Crew manager Ian Murray from Atherton fire station said: “We were trying to make sure everybody was out of the building so it was quite a complex incident.

“The flat where it started was severely damaged and the one above it has superficial damage to the windows, fascias and so on.

“We managed to stop it spreading beyond the flat itself but there is smoke damage to other parts of the building.”

No-one was hurt in the fire.

Crews from Atherton, Hindley and Leigh fire stations attended the incident.