A FIRE badly damaged a bedroom in a semi-detached home following a street disturbance in a quiet suburban close.

Fire crews and police officers were called to Butts Mount in Great Harwood after an early morning row took place in the quiet cul-de-sac at 8.30am yesterday.

Neighbours said a man was seen running in the street dressed in only his underwear who then became aggresive and tried to block a passing motorist’s path.

The man is said to have shouted at the female driver, kicked the car with his bare feet and then jumped on the bonnet of the vehicle after shedding his dressing gown.

When the female driver got out of the car, the man is said to have jumped in the vehicle in her place but did not drive away.

Neighbours say it was then they noticed smoke was pouring from the bedroom window of a nearby house.

Fire crews from Blackburn and Great Harwood extinguished the blaze, which devastated the room and caused smoke damage throughout the property.

Neighbour Connie Harris said: “There was such a commotion in the street that we didn’t notice the fire at first.

“The lady in the car beeped her horn and kept beeping until some men came to help her.

“They were trying to calm him down and that’s when everyone saw the smoke coming from the house.”

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police confirmed they received reports of a ‘half naked’ man at the scene of the fire who was trying to force his way into a vehicle.

Police have arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of arson and for taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission.