A FLAT was badly damaged when a fire broke out in the middle of the night.

The blaze had been smouldering for a while when firefighters were called to Bolton Road, Farnworth, at 12.10am today.

Furniture was on fire in the ground-floor flat and it was filled with thick, black smoke.

Ian Reed, watch manager at Bolton Central fire station, said: β€œIt was a really severe fire. It had been burning for quite some time and was well alight when we arrived.”

There was no-one in the flat at the time, but neighbouring flats were evacuated as they filled with smoke and smoke alarms sounded.

The flat where the fire started was badly damaged and the neighbouring flats were damaged by the smoke.

Firefighters spent two hours at the scene and launched an investigation into the cause of the fire.

The blaze was reported to the police, as it was initially thought to have started maliciously, but no evidence of a crime was found.

One possibility is that the fire was started by a discarded cigarette.

Firefighters plan to return to the flats to carry out home safety checks.