A FIRE broke out in a Westhoughton retail park this morning.

Three fire engines attended a fire outside a Cantonese restaurant in Pavillion Square shortly after 3am.

A bin compound between The China Room and Fulton Deals was on fire when emergency services arrived.

The fire caused "severe damage" to the restaurant, affecting the ceiling inside and the cladding on the outside of the building.

Atherton watch manager Andrew Leyland said: "We left the incident at 6.30am. We had to wait for fire investigation officers. Police asked to look for evidence of accelerants."

The retail park is off Cricketer's Way opposite Sainsbury's and is home to a B&M Store, a Domino's Pizza and a hardware store.

Alan Ainscough who works at Westhoughton Hardware said: "It's completely destroyed the paper and waste storage area."

Crews from Atherton, Hindley and Bolton Central fire stations attended the incident.

The incident is still under investigation by police and fire investigators.

There was no damage to the supermarket next door and no one was injured.