TWO houses were set on fire after an attempted break-in in Bury.

Firefighters were called to Somerset Drive at 6.30 this morning after a passer-by reported flames coming from two neighbouring houses.

Someone had tried to break into a shed in the alley between the two properties and had started a fire which spread to the houses.

There were two people sleeping in each property when the fire crews arrived, who were forced to bang loudly on the doors to wake them up and escort them to safety.

Neither house was fitted with a smoke alarm.

The fire destroyed the back door of one property and had spread into the kitchen before it was put out by the crews, with an upstairs window also destroyed.

The second property suffered damage to a garage as well as smoke-logging to the rest of the house.

​Crews were on the scene for an hour and a half and police are now investigating the incident.