Blaze outside pub

Burning rubbish outside The Royal Oak, in Standishgate

A rubbish fire spiralled out of control outside a derelict pub in Wigan.

Crews were called to land behind The Royal Oak pub, in Standishgate, at around 9am on Saturday, after builders set fire to rubbish in a controlled setting.

However, as it has caused a lot of heavy smoke, crews from Wigan were called to extinguish the flames.

Watch manager Paul Baines said: “Some PCSOs saw the fire was getting out of control and called us. Builders renovating the pub were burning timber and the ashes caught hold of a big pile of rubbish, which was an accident. It was a controlled fire which we were informed about.

“There was no danger of it spreading to the building.

“We used a couple of hose reels and were there for half an hour.”