A SPAR in Bolton has joined up with wholesalers to provide supplies for hard-pressed Winter Hill firefighters.

Asif Patel, owner of the Deane Road store, said he had worked alongside the James Hall Spar depot in Preston to donate things needed by crews.

Mr Patel is also chairman of Bolton Council of Mosques, an organisation which had been trying to give something back to firefighters.

Crews from Bolton Central fire station have been working on the wildfire for 13 days now and supplies of a number of things had been running low.

Mr Patel said: “It’s from ourselves and the Council of Mosques, which I chair. We asked the firefighters if they wanted anything and they said they needed water, socks and plasters. So we did our best to get some for them.

“They were working very long hours, sometimes 16 or 17 hours, so they deserved this.”

Yesterday there were 12 fire engines from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services at the site of the Winter Hill blaze, alongside Greater Manchester crews.

The fire has grown to cover an area of five square miles and efforts have been made to dig trenches around the perimeter, in order to stop the flames from spreading.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson due to the fire, but both have now been released.