FOUR people were taken to hospital after a remote house was "flooded" by a potentially fatal escape of carbon monoxide.

Ambulance and fire crews were called to Reed Row, a terrace of cottages on the hillside above Colne at about 7.15am yesterday.

Two adults and two children were taken to hospital suffering from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

The adults, Jane Petty, 35, and Noel Morgan, 36, were kept in for treatment.

Jane was said today to be satisfactory and stable and Noel's condition was described as comfortable.

Two teenage girls, Samantha Petty, 15, and Stephanie Petty, 13, were released after a check-up. They are now being looked after by other members of the family.

Health and Safety officers were today expected to begin an investigation into what caused the incident.

Fire and Rescue Service Assistant Divisional Officer Chris Waters said: "We got a telephone call from the ambulance service to say five people were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

"When we got there one person was being sick and others were feeling unwell. It was an obviously miserable state of affairs."

Mr Waters added: "We checked two gas appliances, a domestic hot water boiler and a gas burning heater.

"The windows were already open so we isolated both appliances. Had the situation carried on for another hour it could have been fatal. It was a close run thing."

A police spokesman said: "The condition of the two adults was giving cause of concern.

"At this stage it is believed the problem was caused by a central heating boiler. They were awakened by an internal alarm in the house and were very lucky."

A spokeswoman for Transco, the gas delivery company, said they had visited the house yesterday to check the pipes but were not responsible for investigating the cause as carbon monoxide could only be formed by appliances which burnt fuel.