CALLS have been made to demolish an eyesore former nursing home after vandals broke in and set a blaze.

The derelict building in Shorrock Lane, Blackburn was targeted in the early hours of yesterday.

The incident occurred just 14 hours after an electricity substation in Glenfield Close, Blackburn was also targeted by arsonists.

Now firefighters have urged people to avoid entering derelict buildings and asked parents to make sure they know where their children are playing during the Summer holidays.

Residents said the former residential home has been plagued with vandalism for more than a decade and many called for it to be demolished and turned into a children's play area.

But it's owners, Oriental Developments Ltd, said people should have a ‘moral responsibility’ not to enter the three-storey site.

Danielle Slinger, who lives close to the site, said she regularly hears people breaking things inside the former residential home.

She said: “There’s always noise coming from in there late at night.

“I saw about five teenagers coming out at about 3am yesterday morning.

“I saw the fire engines pull up with their lights flashing.

“It should be pulled down and made into a children’s play area. Something useful should come from it.”

Firefighters were called to the 60-room property shortly after 4am to reports rubbish had been set on fire inside.

In recent years, residents said the the former care home has also suffered from smashed doors and windows, graffiti and been a haven for people living rough.

A Oriental Developments Ltd spokesman said: “Neighbours need to take a moral responsibility and not enter the building.

“We have plans to renovate the building and carry out a refurbishment, however we do not have a date set.

“We have tried very hard to keep the site secure but if people want to get in there they will find a way.”

A fire service spokesman said: “We would always encourage young people to stay away from starting fires."

Blackburn Fire Station Crew manager Lee Pickup said: “This arson attack risked the lives of so many people.

“Those involved could have been hurt and the firefighters forced to enter the burning building also had to put lives at risk by trying to save a derelict building."

Cllr Damion Talbot, who represents Mill Hill on Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “We are incredibly frustrated by the conditions of the building in Shorrocks Lane.

“In an ideal world I would like to see the building demolished and it became either an open space or a small housing development.”

In Glenfield Close more than 80 homes were left without power after the electricity substation was targeted around 2pm Tuesday.

A 20-metre cordon was put in place around the substation and residents were evacuated from their homes as fire crews tackled the blaze.

Neighbours described seeing plumes of thick black smoke while parents were left stranded behind the cordon, unable to pick up their children leaving school.

Resident Nicola Campbell, 46, said: “I was thinking it had gone really cloudy then realised it was smoke. I came to the door and saw the whole roof was on fire.

“I rang the fire brigade and within minutes they were here."

Police and fire teams are investigating the blaze.