MORE than 100 revellers had a lucky escape after the upstairs of a Conservative club went up in flames in a suspected arson attack.

Drinkers at Clayton-le-Moors Conservative Club, Whalley Road, were forced to evacuate the building at around 10.30pm on Saturday after club stewards discovered the kitchen engulfed by flames.

An investigation is now underway and Tim Wright, watch manager at Hyndburn fire station, confirmed it was being treated as arson.

The club now faces a clean-up bill that could run into thousands of pounds after the kitchen was gutted and a water tank burst, causing water to pour through the ceiling and into the bar.

Alan Hopkins, secretary of the club, was at the event and said the people there at the time were very calm and left the club very quickly.

He said: “The artist was on and we smelled burning and thought it was outside but the steward went out and could see that the upstairs windows were glowing orange. I went upstairs and could see it was well alight so I came down and got everybody out.

“It was such a shock. More people were just starting to come into the club. The latch to the upstairs rooms had been broken, but we have no idea who has done this.”

Watch manager Wright said it could have been much worse if the smoke hadn’t been detected early on.

He said: “It was lucky the blaze was upstairs and not down in the main part and that someone smelt the smoke. If it had not been spotted it could have been so much worse.

“It looks as though it was started deliberately and that someone had forced the door open in to the room.”

The burnt-out shell of the kitchen was all that remained after the blaze.