THE victim of a suspected arson attack has told of her devastation after she lost all her possessions in the blaze.

Angela Craig's flat on Winmarleigh Street in Blackburn was gutted when it is believed youths broke in and set fire to her front room.

All her furniture and household goods in the living room were reduced to ashes and the rest of the first floor flat was badly smoke damaged and covered in a thick layer of soot, including the bedroom containing her clothes and other possessions.

She said: "I've literally nothing left but the clothes I'm stood up in. I'm absolutely devastated -- I'm having to start from scratch. It's not just the furniture but there were priceless things like photographs I've lost."

Angela, and her 17-year-old son Mark who lived in the flat with her, were out at the time of the blaze.

She was stopping with a friend nearby and returned home the following morning to find her flat in a shocking state.

She said: "When I turned the corner and saw the flat I was gobsmacked. My first thought was 'oh my God, Mark must've been in there' but he was at a mate's house.

"If I'd have been in the house I'd never have got out alive."

Miss Craig was a Twin Valley home tenant of the flat and although she had no insurance for her possessions, she has since been rehomed.

But she said: "I've nothing to put in the new home so I'm staying with a friend at the moment. I just don't know what I'm going to do." Nearby residents called police early last Saturday morning when they saw some youths kicking in the door and then leaving. Shortly after flames were spotted through the upstairs window.

Fire crews arrived to tackle the blaze and brought sniffer dogs to find any trace of flammable liquids that would indicate an arson attack.

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said the full circumstances around the incident were still being investigated. Anyone who saw anything suspicious around 12.05am on Saturday June 14 is asked to contact Blackburn police on 01254 51212.