A MAN threatened to turn himself into a human torch in Tonge Fold on Monday night.

Police were called to a phone box near Tonge Moor Road at around 9pm after receiving reports that a man was threatening to set himself alight.

He had doused his clothes in white spirits and was holding a box of matches.

Firefighters from Bolton were on standby at the scene for about half an hour in case he carried out his threats.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "The man was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital."