A FAMILY have been left homeless after a fire destroyed their house.

The family of three managed to escape the blazing property after the fire broke out in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Five fire crews were called to tackle the fire just after 1am in Southgreen Gardens, off Lupin Way, Clacton.

It took crews from Clacton, Frinton, Weeley and Brightlingsea almost three hours to put out the fire in the detached two-storey property.

Neighbours have named the family as Malcolm and Linda Veale and their daughter, Hayley. They are understood to have suffered minor smoke inhalation in the fire.

Kathleen Arnold, who lives next door to the destroyed home, said: “I heard a bang, bang, bang in the middle of the night from some type of explosion and had to get out of my home.

“I left my home with my son, Gary, and stayed at my other neighbour’s house while the emergency services tackled the fire next door.

“The main thing is the family all got out safely but I can imagine they are going to be finding it hard to cope as the fire was so terrible.”

Gary Arnold added: “After the first bang, I rushed to the back of my house and saw the conservatory at our next door neighbour’s house had just gone.

“I heard a few more explosions and then all the windows shattered at the same time.”

The intensity of the blaze meant it was too dangerous for firefighters to enter the building.

An Essex Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “On arrival crews reported the house was 100 per cent alight and the fire had made it structurally dangerous, meaning it had to be carefully extinguished externally.

“Firefighters extinguished the fire by 3.57am and remained on site for some time to cool hotspots.

“The house has been completely destroyed by the fire.”

Ian Swann, 60, who lives on the opposite side of the road, said: “When I looked outside across the green there was so much smoke coming from the roof.

“I have no clue how it started and because there is only one main way into the Southgreen Gardens I did wonder how the fire service managed to get here.”

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said fire fighters struggled to get to the blaze because the house is hard to access because it is on a green with no road running alongside it.

She said: “Firefighters had to find a way to connect their hoses to the hydrants from a far distance.”

Investigators are looking into the cause of the blaze but do not yet know how it started.