DAMAGE totalling £15,000 was caused by a mystery blast which destroyed a Prestwich kebab shop last week.

Police have now confirmed the explosion is being treated as suspicious after the discovery of two separate seats of fire in the basement of the Kashmiri Kebab House in Hilton Lane. The flames ignited a build-up of unidentified gas fumes which caused the blast.

The front and rear windows of the shop were blown out and the gable wall was weakened as a result of the explosion which happened at 1am on Thursday (July 5).

Detective Sergeant Duncan Heywood of Bury's Operational Police Unit said: "Investigations by police and fire chiefs identified two separate seats of fire that had been started in the basement of the building.

"The matter is being treated as suspicious."

One neighbour, who declined to be identified, told the Bury Times how, seconds before the explosion, she heard the voices of children at the rear of the shop. They then ran off.

It was also claimed that the owners of the shop had suffered a spate of racial attacks by local youths.

The owners, who did not want to be named, declined to comment on the explosion.