TWO men who stopped a passing ambulance for treatment to severe burns will be interviewed in connection with a late-night car fire just minutes earlier, police said today.

The men, aged 18 and 22, from Great Lever, were taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital with 40 per cent burns to their hands, upper body and face in the early hours of Saturday.

Fire crews from Farnworth Fire Station were earlier called to a house in Lynwood Avenue, Great Lever, where a Rover Metro was badly damaged in a "suspicious" blaze.

The property is near the area where the men stopped the passing ambulance some time after the fire.

Both men were transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital's Burns Unit. The men have not been named by police.

Police and fire chiefs are today continuing to investigate the cause of the blaze, which also damaged a fence.

It is not known how the men received their injuries, but a police spokesman confirmed the incidents were being linked. He said: "They appear to be connected incidents. We will be speaking to both the men in due course."

The Metro, which belonged to the home owner's grandson, was alight on the driveway as fire crews arrived. It was covered in sheets due to maintenance work.