MORE than 100 firefighters helped to tackle a huge fire near the Trafford Centre shopping complex early today.

The firefighters from across Greater Manchester were called in to tackle the blaze at the GKN Chep UK pallet company in Mercury Way, Trafford Park.

The fire, which began at 5.50am, tore through a huge pile pallets within a storage centre at the company's factory on Phoenix Way. More than 20 fire appliances were sent to the blaze.

A huge pall of smoke could be seen from as far away as Horwich.

Staff at premises around the factory were evacuated. The fire caused many roads to be closed, causing long delays for rush-hour traffic.

Police said Ashburton Road West and Barton Dock Road were sealed off. The swing bridge at Eccles was also closed.

A police spokesman said today: "Inquiries into the incident are continuing. Premises have been evacuated, but there are no reports of any injuries."

Fire crews from Bolton North were called to help crews from Old Trafford.

At 7am there were 75 firefighters at the fire, but an extra 25 were called in before 8am.

Crews from Bolton Central and Farnworth supplied cover for colleagues in Manchester who were tackling the flames. A crew from Bury supplied cover at Bolton North.

In a fire on Saturday, 100 tons of polythene bags and plastic pallets went up in flames in an arson attack at a Bury factory.

Between 30 and 40 houses were evacuated when arsonists set fire to bags and pallets being kept in the yard area of the Vanguard Building in Ashworth Street, which is surrounded by rows of terraced houses.

As toxic smoke rose into the air from the burning polythene bags, police evacuated local residents in the densely populated area for two hours as a precaution.

There were no casualties and the blaze was confined to an outside yard at the former mill. Ashworth Street resident Elaine Curran, whose house is just feet away from the Vanguard gates, said she was afraid her house would be destroyed.

Mrs Curran, aged 51, said: "It was frightening. I didn't know what to expect. There was thick black smoke everywhere. First of all the police told us to stay inside our homes because they were concerned about what was in the smoke. Then about 10 minutes later they told us to evacuate."

Teenage arsonists are believed to have been responsible for a blaze at a Westhoughton food tray company last night.

Firefighters from Horwich and Bury spent more than an hour battling the flames at Kitchen Foods in Wimberry Road. They had to cut through the company's gates after finding a huge pile of pallets on fire in the goods yard just after 9.30pm.

A number of wheelie bins had also been set alight nearby, which made fire crews suspect that youths were responsible.