INVESTIGATORS are looking to find the cause of a fire, which may have been started deliberately.

Crews were called to a house fire in Chorley Old Road at 12.52pm today.

The house is a large three-storey building which contains five flats. The fire started in one of the flats.

Three fire engines attended the incident, and firefighters with breathing apparatus and hoses extinguished the blaze.

Police are also at the scene.

Watch manager Neil Mercer said the cause of the fire was unknown and a “deliberate ignition” was not being ruled out.

Nobody was in the flat in which there was the fire, and people in the other flats evacuated the building before fire crews arrived.

A fire investigation team is currently looking into the cause, with crime scene investigators on their way. 

Speaking at the scene, Saul Hickey, crew manager at Farnworth fire station, said: "Fire investigation are on the scene and we’re waiting for crime scene investigation.

"We don’t know the cause at this time. It is one flat that it has happened in.

"The smoke alarm was sounding. People need to be checking their some alarms and they need to be making sure they have a smoke alarm. "