A family has been left homeless after a fire started in their young daughter's bedroom.

The blaze left the four-year-old's room totally gutted, and the upstairs of the semi-detached house severely damaged by smoke and the intense heat of the flames.

Mum Sandra Dodsworth with children Kelly, four, and Kegan, two, made a lucky escape as the fire took hold in their Colchester home on Saturday morning at 8am.

She said the fire was started by Kelly who had gone downstairs and picked up a cigarette lighter and started playing with it in her room.

But the game quickly got serious, and almost life-threatening, when the curtains caught light.

Flames were licking out of the bedroom window at Maraschino Crescent on the Cherry Tree estate, in Blackheath, when Colchester firefighters arrived.

Four wearing breathing apparatus went into the house. Initially they thought people were inside as the front door was shut.

Mrs Dodsworth, 33, said: "Kelly came into my room. I was asleep and had been up all night with Kegan. Luckily we woke up.

"Kelly came in and said can you come and have a look. I got up and shut the door into the bedroom and got us all out."

The smoke alarms went off in the house. She managed to call the fire service just before leaving the house, and making sure the family's pet dog was outside.

Mrs Dodsworth, who until recently worked as a chef at Colchester fire station, said the firefighters had told her they were shocked at how quickly the fire took hold.

Neighbours comforted the family as they stood outside their house watching smoke billowing down the street, and they, and friends have rallied round to help them.

"It was quite demoralising as you just stood there. We were helpless, all the neighbours were helpless," she said.

A fire crew returned to the scene later in the day, when two teddies were discovered smouldering in Kelly's room.

Father Trevor Dodsworth, 39, returned home from his job as a crane operator in London after police got in contact with him.

The family are living in a hotel for the next few days until they can find a home to rent temporarily, they want to stay local as Kelly is starting school at nearby Cherry Tree School next month.

Their house won't be habitable again for two months.

Charred rubble - all that remains of the contents of the Dodsworth family's bedroom

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