A WARNING has been issued by fire chiefs after a spate of wheelie bin blazes behind a school.

Firefighters have been called to the area around Canon Slade School at Bradshaw Brow several times in the past few months and say they are worried it is becoming a "growing trend".

In the latest incident, crews were called to the school after a wheelie bin was filled with wood and rubbish and pulled to playing fields behind the school, where it was set alight.

The bin was destroyed but there was no other damage.

The fire service says the incident, which happened at about 7.30pm on Tuesday, January 27, is the fifth or sixth of its kind in the school's grounds since December.

The last bin that was set on fire did not belong to the school and it is thought that youths are dragging bins from the housing estate behind Canon Slade before setting them on fire.

Watch commander Neil Mercer, from Bolton north fire station, said: “It seems to be a growing trend at the moment. We are keeping a log of all the incidents reported in the same location in the last couple of months.

“Attending these wheelie bin fires is using our resources and needlessly stripping the area of fire cover.

“We will be taking details to our area meetings with police to increase patrols in the area, as well as speaking to the school to make them more aware of keeping the bins secure and handing out leaflets nearby."

David Lever, deputy head of Canon Slade School, said the latest incident was the first one the school had been made aware of.

He said: "All we know is that a wheelie bin was set on fire one night last week.

"Obviously it is not ideal. We do not want people to be starting fires on our grounds and we urge them not to.

"The playing fields are quite some distance from the school buildings so there is little we can do about things such as this apart from relying on residents letting us know that something has been going on."

Police also attended on January 27, and a spokesman said the incident had been recorded as a crime, but they did not know who the bin belonged to.

The spokesman said: "We were called to a wheelie bin fire on Tuesday. The bin does not belong to the school.

"The neighbourhood team will be aware of it and will be stepping up patrols if that's appropriate."

Police, the fire service and Bolton Council recently launched their Wheel It Back In campaign, which is intended to make sure people retrieve their bins — primarily in Daubhill and Deane — after they have been collected, so they do not become targets.

Wheelie bin fires can have catastrophic consequences. In June, 2008, a bin was set alight and pushed up against the front door of a house in Little Holme Walk, Great Lever.

The resulting fire killed 71-year-old Hameeda Begum and her four-year-old granddaughter Alana Mian.

No one has ever been caught in connection with the arson attack.