A FIREWORK was hurled into a resident's garden overnight, setting a tree ablaze.

An evergreen tree caught fire after a banger-type explosive was set off in Farnworth during the early hours of this morning.

Several residents were woken by the loud bang, which went off in the rear garden of a home in Arthur Street.

Fire crews from Farnworth were called to the incident at about 4.40am.

Dan King, crew manager at Farnworth Fire Station, said: "Someone had thrown a banger over the fence into a garden, which had set fire to a small evergreen tree.

"We extinguished the flames.

"We discovered the remaining pieces of firework casing underneath the tree.

"It had woken a number of residents up."

The female occupant of the house called 999 to alert the fire brigade.

Crews were in attendance for about 20 minutes.