A DERELICT house was set on fire in Nelson.

Around 15 firefighters, two fire engines and an aerial ladder platform were called to the incident in Caleb Street at 3.20am on Saturday.

Officers said the blaze was started in an upstairs bedroom of the abandoned home after somebody forced their way into the property.

Watch manager Gary Ibbitson said his team spent nearly four hours fighting the flames, and had to search the building after someone suggested a homeless person may have been inside.

He said: “The house was well alight and the first floor and the roof were on fire. When we got there it spread into the adjacent roofs.

“Somebody said there was a tramp inside so we searched the property, but there was nobody inside.

“The first roof has fallen in. It’s just a burnt out shell now, and another blot on the landscape.”