TWO women and a child were 'very lucky' to escape a fire in an upstairs bedroom following an electrical fault today.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in a terraced house, in Cross Street, Brierfield, at 11.55am.

Because of fears the fire would spread, nearby homes also had to be evacuated.

Neighbours spotted smoke coming from the building and initially it was believed that someone was trapped inside.

Watch manager Neil Hardiman said there had been three people in the property at the time, with one asleep upstairs.

But he said no one had smelt the smoke despite the fire being 'well developed'.

The property did not have smoke detectors.

Because of fears the fire could spread across the attic space in the terrace half of the street was evacuated for two hours.

Initial fire investigations have revealed the blaze was caused by an electrical fault.

One bedroom was badly damaged by the fire while two others and a landing were also affected.

Watch manager Hardiman said: “It was very lucky they got out when they did.

"It was a well developed fire when they discovered it."

“One of the neighbours saw the smoke and banged on the door to get the people out.

“We took a decision to evacuate half of the street because there was potential that it could have spread to other properties through the attic space.”

The woman owner of the property, who had been at work at the time, said: "I would like to thank everyone who helped in the fire and thank our neighbour who helped get everyone out.”