A man was rescued from a derelict building by firefighters.

He became trapped in the squalid empty premises in White Lion Brow, next to vacant Gypsy's Tent pub on the edge of Bolton town centre.

One local said: "This shop has been empty for years and junkies use it for shooting up and it's also used by prostitutes.

"They break the chain off of the back door to get in.

"It's been stripped of flooring, copper pipework, virtually everything.

"I understand a prostitute and her client were trapped in there this afternoon."

Firefighters broke in and released the man before an entrance was boarded up.

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: "We were contacted just after 4pm to attend an incident in White Lion Brow.

"We sent appliances from Bolton, Farnworth and Leigh and we rescued one casualty from the building."

Paramedics took a man in his 40s to Royal Bolton Hospital with severe breathing difficulties.