Two brothers, aged 11 and 15, were downstairs at their home in Alder Avenue, Ashton and were unaware of the inferno upstairs until one noticed burning ash floating down the stairs.

Both brothers escaped and called the fire brigade.
Firemen put out the flames within 15 minutes but the blaze, at 4pm yesterday, had already spread to the loft and a quarter of the roof of the semi-detached was destroyed.

Watch commander Ben Cartwright, of Wigan fire station, said: "It burned very quickly because a door was open and the bedroom window was open so there was a good air supply – I was quite surprised a the severity of the damage and in just half an hour the fire caused this level of devastation.

"It was very cluttered too, he had all sorts in there and there was a lot of paper around. The two younger lads had come home from school and were playing on their PlayStation downstairs when it started."
The family is home to three boys aged 11, 15 and 19 and their mother.