A QUICK-thinking tanker driver leapt into action when he realised his vehicle's brakes had overheated and caught fire.

The man was behind the wheel of a truck pulling a tanker containing a flammable liquid when he turned off the A666 St Peter's Way and into Bradford Street in Bolton town centre on Monday morning when he realised the brakes had burst into flames.

He pulled over, grabbed the dry powder HGV drivers keep at hand and poured it over the fire.

Bolton Central firefighters said the situation could have been worse had he not acted.