A mother of seven and two of her children have been rescued by neighbours from their burning home.

Lynn Fawthorpe and Paul Dean raced to help after they heard an explosion and saw flames pouring from the house in Brantwood Avenue, Heaton, Bradford.

They braved thick smoke to pull shocked Kauser Fazer and the two youngest children, aged 15 months and four, to safety as the windows of the house shattered in the intense heat. The other children aged five, six, seven, eight and nine, managed to get out themselves. No-one was injured.

The blaze started in a back bedroom at 5.30pm on Saturday and destroyed the upstairs rooms of the house. Fire investigations believe the blaze was caused by children playing with matches.

Mrs Fawthorpe said she was standing on her drive, two doors away, when she looked up and saw the flames.

She said: "There was a loud bang and I saw flames from the bedroom so I ran and shouted my neighbour to come with me. The mother was on the phone screaming to someone and her baby was asleep on the floor. She was hysterical but we could hear explosions coming from upstairs so we knew we had to get them out quickly."

Mr Dean, who had raced to help the rescue, said he had picked the children up and led them to safety.

He commented: "We just got the woman and the kids out, you don't think about what you are doing, your legs just move."

Cradling her youngest son, 15-month-old Arbas, outside their home, Mrs Fazer said she was grateful to her 'good neighbours'.

Her husband Mohammed Rashad, who returned home after being alerted to the fire by a friend, hailed them heroes.

He said: "We thank them so much, I appreciate what they have done for me and I will not forget that. I thank all the neighbours in the street, without their help my family might not have got out safely."

Station Officer Gordon Wright, of Shipley fire station, praised the actions of the two neighbours. He said: "They have done very well, they did the right thing and the important thing is that we were called quickly."

Station Officer Nigel Hotson, who carried out the fire investigation, said: "The most important thing is that everybody got out safely but the message is that children and matches do not mix.