LANCASHIRE'S chief fire officer Peter Holland has supported calls from local councillors for homeowners to install sprinklers following the death of a Clitheroe mum in a house fire last week.

More than 1,000 councillors from around the UK, who are members of the Local Government Association, will meet at their general assembly tomorrow to ask the Government to back their plans for the residential fire sprinklers scheme and to make them a vital part of community safety measures.

The move comes following the death of Clitheroe mother-of-five Pauline Stannard, 45, at her Lime Street home last weekend. Peter Holland said: "This proposition could make a vital contribution to home fire safety in this country.

"We know that over 500 people needlessly lose their lives each year in the UK in domestic property fires."

He added: "Tragedy struck in Clitheroe last week when a woman died in a fire at her home, the 16th person in the county to be killed in a fire this year. Another 290 people in Lancashire have been injured in fires this year."

He said: "Almost all fire deaths and casualties could be prevented by residential sprinklers. No-one has ever been killed in a fire in a building equipped with sprinklers and installation costs less than the fitting of a carpet in an average three-bedroomed house."

The fire at Mrs Stannard's home was caused by a discarded cigarette and a smoke detector did not have a battery in it.

Two of Mrs Stannard's children, Jack, 15, and 12-year-old Kathleen scrambled to safety through an upstairs window.

Her funeral will be held at Christ Church, Chatburn, today, and her family have asked for donations to be made to the Clitheroe Fire and Rescue Service.