A COUPLE and young child had a narrow escape early today after their home was engulfed in flames hours after having a barbecue.

The barbecue had been stored in a lean-to next to the house in Walnut Street, Bacup, and fire broke out shortly after 1am.

An elderly couple living in the other half of the semi-detached house were wakened by a passer-by who knocked on their door to get them out of bed.

Sub-Officer John Lord said: "The family got out just in time."

He said he thought the fire started in the barbecue embers or timber stored near by. "There was a gas bottle in the lean-to and that caught fire, which spread into the kitchen. The fire burned through the tamper cable in the burglar alarm, which woke the couple. They got out and called us out.

"The man tried to tackle the fire but it was too strong. When we arrived, all of the ground floor was on fire and the fire had spread to the stairs, landing and bathroom."

Twenty firefighters were called to the blaze and four went inside the property to tackle the fire.

A thermal imaging camera was used to check for heat sources and firefighters attended until 4.10am.

Station Officer Steven Grady said: "Now we are getting much warmer weather, people are thinking about barbecues. They must be put out properly and not put away immediately afterwards."

The house owner, Carol Royle, has lived in the street for about three years with her son. She was not at the house today.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.