THE roof of a Farnworth mill has been damaged after it went up in flames on Thursday evening.

Firefighters were called to Century Mill just after 5.15pm when flames were spotted coming from the roof at the back of the building next to the mill’s chimney.

Four engines from Bolton, Farnworth and Stretford were at the scene in George Street to tackle the fire, which is believed to have been caused by a wood burner in the warehouse below.

It took half an hour to put out the initial blaze and crews had to use a hydraulic lift to secure the roof and prevent the flames from spreading further into the building.

The burner is housed in a unit occupied by Link Design Interiors and employee Steve Burch, from Kearsley, was in the building when the roof caught alight.

He said: “It was just me and the designer in the showroom when someone came running in to tell us about the fire. When I came out I saw flames and lots of smoke.

"We were lucky we caught it in time and not an hour later otherwise the whole mill could have gone up."

Mr Burch added that the room had been home to a wood burner, which is fired using off cuts of wood from the warehouse, for up to 13 years with no problems but it had been replaced earlier in the year.

Firefighters were on the scene until 9pm to make sure the area was safe.

Watch manager Carl Haslam said: "We believe the burner is fairly new and could have set fire to the roof.

"The roof is 25 meters long and 10 metres of it caught on fire, we did have trouble accessing it due to its height and position so requested a hydraulic lift.

"The fire was under control within 30 minutes but it was smouldering for a good hour afterwards."

A spokesperson from Link Design Interiors said the room had been flooded by the water used to put out the fire, but the machines inside were still operating and the full extent of the damage was not yet known.