A family near Selby were left devastated today after their house was gutted by fire - on the day they planned to move.

Melanie Butler woke her three children, and evacuated her rented house in Westfield Grove, Eggborough, after discovering flames in an upstairs bedroom just after 7.30am today.

Quick-thinking next-door neighbour Graham Broadhead noticed the flames from outside and quickly turned off the gas supply and raised the alarm.

Miss Butler, who rented the property from her brother, planned to move to a new home in nearby Whitley, with her three children and partner Les Haddock.

Eight firefighters using breathing apparatus and four hose reels were called out to tackle the blaze. Three appliances attended from Selby and Snaith.

Sub-officer Colin Hunter said the service had received a call at 7.37am and a full-time crew from Selby - who were mobilised from their homes - arrived at 7.52am.

All upstairs rooms suffered severe fire damage, along with the downstairs living room.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Sub-officer Hunter said: "Flames were coming out of the house at a height of between ten and fifteen feet - the top-floor window and roof had completely gone.

"We immediately tried to stop the flames spreading to the next-door properties and made sure no-one was trapped.

"Mr Broadhead prevented the situation from being much more serious by turning off the gas."

Mr Hunter appealed to householders to regularly check their smoke alarms because Miss Butler's had failed to activate.

Mr Broadhead said he raised the alarm after spotting flames behind the windows.

He said: "The fire was burning so fiercely the windows smashed and the roof slates were completely burnt through.

"If we had a full-time 24-hour fire service some of the damage could have been avoided."

Local councillor John McCartney, who was speaking on behalf of the family, said they were completely devastated.

He said: "It's a sick irony that this happened on the day they planned to move.

"Miss Butler is disgusted that the area does not have 24-hour emergency fire cover.

"Valuable time was wasted because the firefighters were called from their homes.

"The family had to stand and watch their house and possessions burn before their eyes."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire Service said the first crew arrived within 16 minutes - four minutes under Home Office guidelines for outlying areas.

He said: "The family are welcome to make a complaint which would be thoroughly investigated."

Updated: 15:45 Friday, March 09, 2001