AN OPPORTUNTISTIC arsonist in thought to have set fire to a sofa and a trampoline in adjacent back gardens.

Firefighters from Bury were called at 5.50pm to reports that a settee in a house's rear area in Cross Lane, Radcliffe, had been set alight along with a trampoline in a neighbouring rear yard.

Steve Wilcock, watch manager at Bury Fire Station, said: "The trampoline was completely burned out. All the netting and side walls had been burned and the fire had burned itself out.

"It was a shame for the little girl that her trampoline had been taken away but we reassured her by saying it could have been a lot worse and that the trampoline is replaceable.

"The sofa was still smoking when we got there as the man who owned the house had put water on it."

Mr Wilcock said firefighters suspect the person responsible had been walking along the back of the houses and gained access to the two back gardens on a whim to set the fires.

He said: "It wasn't a targeted attack. It was a mindless act."