TWO young apprentices told of their terror as they watched a fire threaten to destroy their firm.

Chris Seal and John Lee, both 15, returned from a tea-break to find flames engulfing Charlton Sweeper Hire in Kearsley.

But the pair quickly called firemen who limited damage to £30,000 and prevented the whole firm from going up in smoke.

Today Chris, of Station Road, Kearsley, said: "We couldn't believe it. We left the building for five minutes for a break and when we returned smoke and flames were everywhere.

"It was terrible, but the first thing we thought to do was to get help." An electrical fault in one of the company's six road sweepers, which are hired to construction firms, sparked the blaze on Saturday afternoon.

Residents for miles around could see thick, black smoke as flames leapt from the roof of the business's large workshop in Fishbrook Industrial Estate, Roscow Road.

But a team of 16 firemen, who were called at 2.20pm, put out the fierce blaze before it spread to other road sweepers laden with diesel.

Farnworth station sub-officer David Knowles said damage - mainly limited to the roof and gutted road sweeper - could have been much worse.

"The fire was fierce and could have easily spread," he told the BEN.

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