POLICE and fire officers were investigating a suspected arson attack on a house in Colne today.

Two people in the semi-detached house in Rosehill Road, Colne, escaped from the building as it filled with smoke. They were not injured.

Firefighters were called to the house, which is at the end of semi-detached, at 7.06 am. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service's sniffer dog and forensic officers were brought in to establish how the blaze, which gutted the living room, started.

Sergeant Andy Moore, of Nelson police, said: "We are treating it as suspicious at the moment and forensic officers are investigating the cause.

"There were two people in the house at the time but they had managed to get themselves out by the time the fire brigade arrived.

"The living room is gutted, the furniture is ruined, the plaster is coming off the walls and the ceiling badly damaged. The rest of the house is smoke-logged. Obviously our first priority is to establish how this happened."

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