A DERELICT garden centre 'will have to be destroyed' after being badly damaged in a fire.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at Holland Gardening Centre, in Darwen Road, Bromley Cross, at about 9pm on Saturday.

The fire, which is believed to have been started deliberately, has caused significant damage to the the building and firefighters say it will now have to be destroyed.

Eyewitnesses reported being able to see smoke emanating from the fire for miles around.

It is not thought that anyone was hurt as a result of the fire.

Firefighters worked at the scene for about three and a half hours.

Chris Wilcox, watch manager at Bolton Central Fire Station, said: “The whole garden centre went up.

“There was a lot of smoke. You could see it from miles around.

“At one point, we had four fire engines and a hydraulic platform.

“The building was already derelict but now it will have to be destroyed.

It comes just two months after firefighters tackled a bonfire at the centre, which had been started by youths.

The building did not suffer any damage in that incident, but Bromley Cross councillor David Greenhalgh described it as ‘a real concern’.

It was just the latest incident in the chequered history of the site.

At one time it was suggested that football pitches could be formed on the huge swathe of green belt land at the back of the former nursery site, but the vision did not materialise.

In 2007 Bromley Cross Football Club was granted permission to create a campus of eight or more grassroots pitches, complete with clubhouse and changing rooms. The scheme came about through an agreement drafted between the owner of Hollands Nursery, Don Faulkner, and the club, but relations between the two collapsed in 2013.

In September, 2014 a new vision was unveiled for a multi-million pound sports village, including all-weather pitches and a gym, as well as an Aldi supermarket and a Touchwood restaurant.

Two years ago the site was included the now-under-review Greater Manchester Spatial Framework plans for house building. It raised fears that up to 300 homes could be built on the green belt site.

In June 2016, the land’s receiver, David Currie, who was appointed by the by-then liquidated Hollands business, said he had entered the site into the Greater Manchester Combined Authority framework 'as a back-up plan'. But he said he 'remains committed' to working with Bromley Cross FC to create a community sports facility on the land.