A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy set a bed alight while his sister was sleeping on it.

Matthew Aspin started the fire with a lighter at the family's home in Spring View, Blackburn.

His seven-year-old sister Chloe's bed immediately caught fire.

Chloe escaped unharmed but her bedroom was destroyed, along with the bed, carpet and all her toys and personal belongings. Three other rooms were damaged.

The children's mother, Angela Scullion, was taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation then allowed home.

Fire-fighters were at the house for more than hour.

Station Officer Jim Fowler said: "There was smoke issuing from the first floor window of the child's bedroom.

"We deployed fire-fighters with breathing apparatus but the occupants had already made their escape.

He added: "This again illustrates the need for houses to be fitted with smoke alarms. If this house had been fitted with an alarm the occupants would have had a far greater chance of detecting the fire sooner."

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