A YOUNG woman died when a house in Padiham exploded into flames.

Windows at the house in Victoria Road were blown out and flames from the ground floor lounge shot 30 feet into the air.

Police patrolling the area late on Saturday were at the scene within seconds but were driven back by the ferocity of the blaze, which eyewitnesses described as an inferno.

Teams of firefighters from Burnley broke into the mid terrace property and discovered the woman's body in the lounge.

Detective Inspector Ron Griffiths said forensic experts were working today to formally identify the woman, amid reports that she was a lodger at the house.

He said a woman had been reported missing and relatives had been informed.

Fire investigators, police scenes of crime officers and forensic experts are trying to discover the cause of the blaze.

Neighbours who raced to the fire which lit up the night-time sky say the house was owned by Mr Jermaine Cheetham and occupied by his sister Nicola, aged about 22, and a young woman lodger.

Nicola's parents Mr and Mrs John Cheetham, of Green Lane, Padiham, today said their daughter was not at the house at the time of the fire and they are glad she is safe." Divisional fire officer Stuart Tracey said the fire had been particularly fierce and serious and very difficult to tackle.

Ex-soldier Don Taylor, of nearby Dryden Street, jumped into his car and drove to the scene of the fire, which he said lit up the entire street.

"You could barely see the door as flames engulfed the house, shooting out horizontally into the street with force.

"It wasn't like any other fire."

Mr Taylor, 38, said neighbours were running towards the house from other streets in desperate efforts to help, but no-one could get near because of the ferocity of the fire.

Sixteen-year-old Damien Coolican, of Wordsworth Avenue, was also near the scene when the house erupted in flames at around 11pm.

"It was like something out of a film, the windows exploded and later you couldn't see anything because of all the black smoke."

Mr Taylor said he and his wife Julie had been looking out of their front room window on to Victoria Road, where police were called because of trouble between teenagers and residents.

He said: "There have been loads of incidents in the past, but never like that. It was chaotic."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.