A family were evacuated from their home after what is believed to be a ‘deliberate’ fire was set in their shed.

The blaze broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning on Kenilworth Drive, Higher Folds, Leigh and fire crews arrived on the scene at around 2.40am.

There they found a fire had started in an outhouse or shed, with smoke affected the house in front of it.

Watch Manager Steven Waygood said: “The fire had spread to the back of the property, smoke had got into the house and the family inside were evacuated.”

“Thankfully the fire itself did not spread to the house.”

He added: “I’m putting it down as deliberate.

“The outhouse was not in use, they hadn’t used it for several days and the family had done to bed four or five hours before the fire.”

Watch Manager Waygood explained there was not electricity in the outhouse and he could see no other way of the fire starting than by a deliberate act.

No one was seriously harmed as a result of the fire.

Police are now investigating and will be using CCTV footage to try and determine the cause of the fire and who may have started it.