A MOTHER and her son escaped unscathed from a blaze that tore through their mid-terraced property in Pendle.

The house in Carlton Street, Brierfield, was completely gutted in the fire which is believed by the family to have been sparked by a faulty electric meter.

Neighbours helped coax the 37-year-old mother-of-four from the house as she desperately searched for her copy of the Koran.

Her 12-year-old son had already got out and was calling the emergency services.

The housewife, who did not wish to be named, said that she was busy cleaning in the kitchen when her son, a pupil from Marsden Heights School, Nelson, alerted her to the fire as he watched television.

She says there were two seats to the fire, one from the electric meter box and the other from a nearby cupboard.

“I got a damp cloth and tried to smother the fire on the cupboard and it just went boom,” said the woman, who has lived at the property for 18 years.

“I was trying to save my Holy Koran and I told my son to go out and ring 999. While he was talking to the emergency services the landline exploded.

“Our neighbours arrived and I was told to get out. I managed to save my Koran. The living room also exploded.”

“The neighbours did a great job calming me down and they gave my son some water.”

When firefighters arrived the ground floor front room of the property was well alight.

They carried out a search of the property using thermal imaging equipment to make sure no-one was still inside.

The front room of the house suffered severe damage with the remainder of the property affected by heat and smoke.

Firefighters and paramedics attended to the 12-year-old at the scene as he was in shock. He was taken to Blackburn Royal Hospital for checks.

The woman’s husband was at work at the time and her other two sons and daughter were with friends.

The family are now staying with relatives at Railway View.

The cause of the fire, which started at 4.20pm on Tuesday, is still unknown.