THE father of a family forced to flee their home after a blaze broke out in the kitchen during the early hours today told how his wife and children were lucky to be alive.

Mohammed Khan spoke after returning home from a night's shift working as a taxi driver at 4.30am to find his house in York Street, Nelson, ravaged by fire.

He said he feared for his wife and children's lives as they were taken to Burnley General Hospital before he got chance to see them.

And he revealed how a passing motorist managed to save the sleeping family by alerting firefighters to the blaze.

Mr Khan, 40, said his two daughters, Shareen, 21, and Maria, 13, who were trapped in their bedroom, threw a mattress out of the second-floor window to cushion the landing for when they leaped 20ft to the ground.

The rest of the family, including his wife Guftar Khan, 38, and children, Saraz, 19, Noreen, 14, Aneka, 12 and Saleena, 11, managed to escape through the front door.

He said: "Fortunately somebody drove past the house and saw the smoke coming from the window.

"That person managed to alert my family to the fire. I will be eternality grateful to that man for saving the lives of my wife and children.

"I would like to meet him so I could personally thank him for doing what he did. If he hadn't have stopped when he did, my family could have all died in the fire."

He added: "The house is completely wrecked. We had just had it all decorated. But the main thing to me is that my family are going to be all right.

"They must have been so scared. I just wish that I had have been there for them."

Firefighters said Saturday's blaze had spread from the kitchen through the ceiling and into the landing of the house.

It is thought the fire was started by a chip pan, and the cause is now under investigation.

Sub Officer Mark Woodward, of Nelson Fire Station, said: "Everybody was lucky to get out alive of this fire as it was extremely serious and could have resulted in death.

"An investigation is under way to establish the exact cause of the fire, which at this time is believed to have been started by a chip pan."

Mr Khan's wife and two daughters have now been discharged from hospital and are said to be recovering.

The family are staying with relatives in Barkerhouse Road until they find alternative accommodation.