HOMES were evacuated, businesses were forced to shut and thousands of motorists were caught up in Traffic chaos.

And the cause? A small pallet fire started by arsonists in the yard of a Bury factory.

A 200-metre exclusion zone was placed around the Sillavan Engineering building at Bury Bridge late on Thursday night in case a handful of acetylene gas cylinders, caught up in the original rubbish fire, exploded.

Nearly 30 people living in flats opposite the factory were woken at 1am by police who ordered them to leave their homes as firefighters began cooling the cylinders with thousands of gallons of water over a 24-hour period.

Most went to relatives and friends' homes for the night while one family of five was put up at the Bolholt Country Park Hotel by Bury Council. The exclusion zone forced the closure of Bolton Road, from Stephen Street to Bolton Street, the bottom non-residential section of Wood Street and a host of other side and back roads.

Traffic diversions around the cordoned off area resulted in traffic chaos, with roads jammed solid in many parts for hours as the Friday morning rushhour came to a standstill.

Inspector Andy Hudson of Bury Traffic Unit, who was co-ordinating diversions throughout Friday, said: "The acetylene cylinders were not touched by the flames from the pallet fire but the heat from it could have caused them to explode, sending shrapnel over a half mile area.

"Under the guidance of the fire service, we implemented a 200-metre exclusion zone around the fire site. Residents in that zone were evacuated and the roads were closed to traffic."

Bolton Road was finally re-opened to all traffic at 3pm on Friday although Victoria Street, Olive Street and Waterloo Street remained closed until 10pm.

A total of 28 people had been forced to evacuate their homes during the emergency.

Among them was Mr Pradumin Vasta, his wife Kunver, and their three children, Shivan, Paru and Vikesh who were booked into the Bolholt Hotel.

Mr Vasta said: "We were all in bed when, at about 1am, the police knocked on the door and said we had to evacuate the area because of some danger.

"We were advised to either stay with relatives or friends but we did not have the chance. A man from Bury Council said they were going to use the Elizabethan Suite as a shelter but, as there was only my family needing rehousing, they put us in the Bolholt.

"It was quite an exciting night for the children but my wife and I were worried about our home."