Children blamed for scrapyard fire

NUISANCE children have been blamed for a fire at a Bolton scrap ard which destroyed 60 cars in a huge blaze.

Peter Hibbert, manager at Motor Spares UK on Lowfield Road, said the fire, which cost the firm £5,000, was started deliberately.

But South Yorkshire Police said the fire was being treated as accidental and there was no evidence of foul play.

Mr Hibbert said: “There’s no way it was accidental.

“We’ve had problems with kids hanging around and we had a fire about six months ago which was kids messing about.”

More than 20 firefighters spent five hours tackling the blaze which started around 11.30am on Monday.

Dozens of cars and hundreds of scrap parts were completely destroyed.

Firefighters from Rotherham, Mexborough and Adwick used breathing apparatus, foam and hoses to control the flames.