A YOUNG Otley mum and her daughter were lucky to escape a massive blaze which totally destroyed their home in the early hours of last Friday.

The pair had been asleep upstairs when the fire broke out in the living room of the house in Wharfe Street, Otley.

They were woken by the smell of smoke and screamed for help.

They managed to get out of the house before the fire really took hold.

When fire crews from Rawdon and Otley got to the house shortly after 1.30am it was already well alight

And it took them more than two hours to bring the blaze under control.

The woman and her daughter were said to have been badly shaken, but neither of them suffered any injuries and did not need to go to hospital.

The charred remains, furniture and other items destroyed in the blaze, littered the driveway to the house, situated in a quiet residential street.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said "We were woken at about 1.30am when we heard noises coming from the house.

"It was the woman and her little girl shouting 'fire, fire'.

"Then our smoke alarm started to go off.

"She said there was a small fire but it had rapidly got out of hand.

"I saw the curtains catching fire but the pair of them got out pretty quickly.

"It was all a bit of a shock".

A spokesman from Rawdon Fire Station said that the family has been 'very lucky' to get out unscathed.

"The two occupants got out quickly, but they have been very lucky considering the seriousness of the fire.

"There has been just about total loss of the house, with the downstairs totally destroyed and the upstairs almost gone to smoke damage".

He said that, at its height, the fire become extremely serious, although crews managed to stop it from spreading to neighbouring properties.

"When we arrived the fire was quite intense for about ten minutes," he said.

"The mum and her daughter were suffering from a lot of shock even though they got out without any physical injuries".

"When you see all the possessions being carried out of what was once your home, totally burnt and destroyed, then it can be a very traumatic experience."

The spokesman said the cause of the fire was still not known and investigations were being hampered by the seriousness of the damage caused.

The family, who have not been named, and believed to be staying with relatives.