THREE sleeping men were lucky to escape with their lives after an arsonist set fire to their home early on Monday morning.

The men were all asleep in their bedsits in a converted house in Rishton Lane, Great Lever, at 3am when someone entered the building and started a blaze in an unoccupied rear bedroom.

Household items had been piled up and a flammable liquid poured over them before being set alight.

Firemen say a tragedy was only prevented by the quick actions of a neighbour, who spotted smoke pouring from a window and alerted the emergency services.

Brothers Ray Price, aged 33, and 28-year-old Mario Price were asleep in a downstairs room and a middle-aged man was asleep in an upstairs bedroom when firemen arrived.

The crews had to search the building and break down doors to find and wake the occupants, who were led to safety outside while the flames were tackled.

"It was a bit of a shock," said Ray Price.

He expressed anger at the person who had deliberately started the fire and put them in danger.

"We could have been hurt or killed," he said. "Whoever did this needs to be caught." A middle-aged neighbour who has lived upstairs for 18 years and who did not want to be identified, told how he escaped the fire after also being woken by firemen.

"I could smell the smoke. It was on my floor. If the fire hadn't been put out as quickly as it was I would have been up the creek without a paddle."

No smoke alarms were working in the building.

"The neighbour did a good job noticing the fire," said sub officer Shaun Walton.

"We could easily have been dealing with a fatality."

Police are investigating the incident.