A FORMER bank manager who was £30,000 in debt allegedly tried to burn down his house -- while his wife and two children were asleep inside, a court was told.

The family was saved by the prompt action of Glenn Hunt's wife who had just attended a fire training course. She told the children to cover the cracks in the doors to prevent smoke getting into their rooms.

Jennifer Hunt had been asleep but woke up after hearing strange noises. When she saw smoke and flames she shouted to wake the rest of the family.

Hunt's son Gareth had smashed his own bedroom window, threw his mattress on to the lawn and jumped out, wearing just his underwear, to raise the alarm with neighbours.

Glenn Hunt was eventually rescued by his teenage son and neighbours who smashed windows in the living room and dragged him out.

When senior fire officers sifted through the remains of the ground floor they noticed petrol had been used to start the fire from inside the house and alerted the police.

Hunt, aged 46, formerly of Ridgemont Close, Horwich, appeared at Bolton Crown Court to stand trial on a charge of arson with intent to endanger life and an alternative charge of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered on May 24 last year.

Mrs Hunt, a primary school headteacher, said in evidence that she woke in the middle of the night and opened her bedroom door to find the hall full of choking smoke.

She said she had gone to bed but had been woken by noises she described as rushing wind and breaking wood.

At first she thought the house was being burgled but when she opened the door and went on to the landing she saw an orange glow downstairs and realised the house was on fire.

She said that she had just completed a fire training course and knew that she should avoid breathing in the toxic fumes from the smoke.

She shouted "Fire!" at the top of her voice and told the children to block off the gaps in their bedroom doors.

She opened her window and spoke to her daughter Naomi who opened her window in the adjacent bedroom. She escaped down a ladder brought by a neighbour and realised her husband was still in the living room. Mrs Hunt told the court that it had been difficult to get her husband out of the living room because the windows were of the small pane Georgian-type and were locked.

She said he had tried to get out by trying to smash his way out from inside but he eventually escaped feet first after neighbours smashed a bigger hole.

Earlier that evening she had been preparing for her daughter's 19th birthday the following day by cooking food and wrapping presents before going to bed at 11.30pm.

Mrs Hunt said she no idea about the £30,000 debts and had only learned about those following the fire. She said her husband seemed normal and was a caring and loving father to the children.

Proceeding