A BIN fire in a troubled Astley Bridge street could have spread to nearby houses, residents have said.

The blaze, which began at around 3am on Saturday, melted the bin it was started in and caused damage to electrical equipment outside the Domino's in Blackburn Road, which was forced to close for two days.

Residents who live in the street behind the store say the fire is another example of anti-social behaviour in the area, includes other fires and issues with drugs and alcohol.

It was first spotted by a man who lives in a home which backs on to the alleyway.

He said: “It was about three o’clock and we couldn’t sleep because it’s been so hot, so our bathroom window was open

“I got up to go to the toilet and I could smell the smoke, there was loads of it coming through from the alley.

“It went so quickly and it was so close to our homes, it could have easily come over to us.

“It’s shocking, there’s always something going on. Kids arguing late at night, cars flying up and down the street and there’s people hanging around in the alley drinking and doing drugs.

“There’s loads of those little silver canisters around.”

His partner added: "I have lived here since 2011 and for the first few years nothing happened. It was nice and quiet.

“This happened before, at the beginning of last year, both bins were burned out that time. Luckily, my son smelled it and it wasn’t that close to the property so it just burned the wood.

“Another time, in August last year, my son came running down the stairs early in the morning and told us they were trying to ram the door of Domino's. They had a big piece of metal and they were hitting the doors. They got in that time. Something needs to be done.”

“It’s changed massively since I moved here and years ago it used to be so quiet and nice there seems to be constant issues.”

Firefighters arrived at the scene around 3am and quickly extinguished the flames, although the specific cause of the fire is unknown.

Domino's declined to comment on the incident but engineers were seen repairing equipment behind the store and calls were diverted away from the Blackburn Road location from Saturday until Monday.