ARSONISTS are putting lives at risk by setting wheelie bins alight, firefighters have warned.

Crews are being called out to tackle at least one deliberate and dangerous bin fire a day in Bolton.

In the latest incident a grey wheelie bin was set on fire and pushed against a neighbour’s wooden gate in Frances Street, Halliwell.

Flames caught the corner of the property’s extension before firefighters stopped it spreading.

Dylan Wood, aged 18, who lives with his pregnant girlfriend in the tenanted house whose bin was burned, said: “We heard the crackling and we could smell it. We went into the back garden and saw the flames over the wall.

“We poured water on it but it kept exploding because of what was in the bin. Aerosol cans and stuff like that.

“I am worried about it. I have a baby on the way and the fire could have set fire to next door and this house would have gone up.”

Firefighters are urging households to cut the risk by putting bins out for no longer than is necessary and to store them securely when not left out for collection.

Mr Wood said: “I put the bin out on Monday so it was ready for Tuesday. I sympathise with the fire service but people have their own lives to live.”

Bolton Central Fire Station crew manager Carl Greaves said: “No one was injured or in the property but there was a significant concern for us.

“It happened during daylight hours and we were able to quickly respond to it but if it had happened at night the consequences could have been a lot worse.”

He said the increasing vandalism — often in back alleys — is tying up manpower, equipment and machinery and diverting emergency services from other important work.

This week firefighters had to tackle bin blazes in Morris Green Lane in Morris Green and Willows Lane, Deane.

Mr Greaves said: “We have had a spate of wheelie bin fires. We do have to go out to it, manage it, put it out and speak to residents.

“It’s a time drain and with the busy period coming up it’s something we can do without.

“We’re getting towards Bonfire Night and these bins do light up pretty quickly, especially the paper ones.”

In June, 2008, Hameeda Begum, 71, and her granddaughter Alana Mian, aged four, died in a blaze at their home in Little Holme Walk, Great Lever, when a burning wheelie bin was shoved against a door by arsonists.

It prompted a campaign to crack down on wheelie bin fires and led to advice messages emblazoned on the side of council refuse lorries, wheelie bins and posters.