A 36-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested in connection with a blaze which destroyed part of a Winsford superstore yesterday.

Firefighters were called to a blaze at a warehouse to the rear of the Morrisons supermarket in Nat Lane in the early hours of Tuesday, and fire chiefs say the superstore itself was only saved from destruction by the prompt actions of the firefighters.

A Winsford crew was at the scene within minutes of the alarm being raised at 2am.

Firefighters discovered the warehouse adjoining the store well ablaze, with just under half of the building alight.

A spokesman for Cheshire Fire Brigade said: 'Initial attempts were made by firefighters in breathing apparatus to tackle the fire from within the warehouse.

'Realising the seriousness of the situation, the officer in charge increased the number of fire engines to 10 and two hydraulic platforms from Stockton Heath and Macclesfield were called in.

'Shortly into the incident firefighters had to be withdrawn from the warehouse due to the danger of the roof collapsing, and the main objective of the operation became to prevent the fire spreading to the superstore.'

In total 50 firefighters fought the blaze and many were still at the scene when the Chronicle went to press. Police closed a number of roads and neighbours in Nat Lane were warned they could be evacuated.

One resident said: 'We were woken up just after 2am. We could hear someone shouting for help and then there was the sound of a muffled explosion.

'We went to the telephone, but could see fire officers were already on their way.'

Police and fire officers are investigating the blaze, which is believed to have been started deliberately.