TWO residents were lucky to escape a house fire which started while they were asleep. 

Emergency services were called to a terraced house, on Bury Road, Edenfield, shortly before 5am after the ground floor of the property caught fire.

The two house occupiers, a man and a woman believed to be in their 50s, were asleep when the fire initially started.

The residents woke up before the fire spread, despite the house not having smoke alarms. They managed to evacuate the property unharmed. 

The cause of the fire is still to be determined.

Fire crew manager Darryl Wood said the living room was 'destroyed' by the blaze.

He said: "The downstairs living room was severely damaged by the heat and some smoke damage in the property."

Mr Wood reminded residents to make sure they have smoke alarms installed in the house.

Police, who were assisting the fire service during the ongoing incident, blocked the road between the junction of Bolton Road and Wood Lane for several hours.