A FAMILY of six escaped unhurt when their living room caught fire today.

The family fled from their Argo Street home in Daubhill after the blaze started at about 8.15am.

The fire started near to the window of the ground floor living room and spread into the hall area.

Aamir Patel, aged seven, raced upstairs to wake up his aunt Anisa Patel after he saw the curtains burst into flames.

Anisa, aged 20, rang the fire brigade on her mobile phone and was told to clear the house as quickly as possible.

She said: "Aamir really is my hero.

"As soon as he woke me up I could smell smoke.

"We all ran out of the back door as quick as we could and it was frightening.

"I managed to shut both the front door and living room door as we were running out to try and contain the fire.

"Everyone is fine, but we're all shocked."

The three boys, aged seven, six and three-years-old who were in the house at the time of the fire, but live with relatives in a nearby street, all went to nursery and school this morning while their family tried to clear up following the blaze.

Staff from Norweb arrived to take away the electric junction box from the living room to carry out tests in case the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

Anisa, her brother and mother will now live with relatives in the area until the house, which was heavily smoke-logged, is fit to move back into and has had the electricity reconnected.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "The family has been very lucky as the fire could have been much worse.

"They did well to shut both the doors which has kept the fire in the living room and hall area."