A BLIND 92-year-old had a "miraculous" escape after her bid to inspire her beloved Blackburn Rovers set fire to her home.

Margaret Tyson, known as Peggy, cheated death by feeling her way to safety as her home filled with deadly thick smoke.

The stout Catholic lights a candle whenever Rovers play and prays to the Mother Mary for them to win.

Peggy, who has been a Rovers fan since she was a little girl, today said that the least Rovers could do to cheer her up would be to avoid relegation!

She has carried out the ritual of lighting a candle in front of a statue of Mary before listening to the match on the radio since her doctor said she was too frail to attend matches

But sadly on Saturday as Rovers lost 2-1 at home to Leeds United the small candle caused the blaze which badly damaged the home where Peggy has lived for 67 years.

Peggy was a founder member of the Rovers Supporters Club in 1937 and remembers scrubbing the seats at Ewood Park clean between games for no pay.

Throughout the years many Rovers players have lodged at her home in Edmund Street, Ewood, Blackburn.

Her niece married full-back John Bray, who played in the 1960 FA Cup Final when Rovers were beaten by Wolves, and Peggy has been a well-known face to many former Rovers players through the years, including Alan Shearer.

But Peggy's life was threatened by the blaze and was only saved by her determination to live and her caring neighbours. She said: "I absolutely adore football and have loved the Rovers since I was a little girl.

"Whenever Rovers are playing a match I light a candle and pray.

"I have done that for years and that's what I did. I struck a match and lit a candle and put it in the green glass dish and I went into the kitchen.

"I went to go back in the front room and the door was red hot. I got frightened then and felt my way out of the house along the walls. I didn't know who rang the ambulance."

Peggy's neighbours, Vivien Fish and Lynda Whitehead, saw her emerge from the smoke-logged house and helped her to safety. Lynda, a trustee of Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary, in Edenfield, said: "My heart sank. The smoke was black and thick. Suddenly Peggy just appeared at the side door as large as life.

"I thought she would have collapsed. It is an absolute miracle she is alive."

Vivien said: "Peggy cannot walk very well anyway and she was just in a daze. We had her under the arms and were just trying to get her away from the smoke."

Peggy was treated with oxygen and had a check-up at Blackburn Infirmary. Today she was recovering at Kingsway Home for Older People, in Montague Street, under the care of assistant manager, Sandra Reay, and her colleagues after Blackburn with Darwen Council found her someone to stay.

Peggy said: "If Rovers don't avoid relegation there will be trouble. To think I have suffered like this for them.

She joked: "If I met Graeme Souness I would probably fall out with him."

Peggy, who has never married, lived in the Edmund Street house since it was built with her mother, her sister Mary and three brothers. Peggy's brother Jim is her only surviving sibling and he lives in Tazmania.

Kevin Gibson, station officer at Blackburn Fire Station, said: "She had a very lucky escape and it could have been much worse."