TWO young children had a lucky escape when the bedroom they had been playing in went up in flames.

Fire fighters believe the blaze was caused by the youngsters playing with a box of matches in the bedroom.

But Amanda Scott, who lives in Bethesda Close on the Galligreaves Estate in Blackburn, cannot understand how the fire started.

Amanda, her 11-year-old son Luke, and three visitors were forced to flee the house when smoke started pouring from the bedroom.

The force of the flames blew the bedroom window out and smoke spread to the attic of the house.

Susan Brown was visiting the house with Luke, aged two, and Shannon, three, when the fire started in a room where the two toddlers were playing.

No one was injured in the blaze but the upstairs of the house was badly damaged by the smoke and fire.

Amanda said: "We were just about to sit down and have a cup of tea when this loud bang came from upstairs.

"I ran up the stairs and the children were coming down the other way. There was smoke everywhere and flames coming out of the bedroom.

"We were all very frightened but we managed to get out and call the fire brigade.

"The children were only upstairs for 10 minutes, they were not there long enough to start a fire."

Leading firefighter Phil Emmett said: "When we got to the house there was smoke pouring out of the upstairs window.

"It appears the children were playing with a box of matches and started the fire.

"Once again this is warning to parents to keep matches out of reach of young children."

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