CHERYL Holden not only lost most of her belongings in a fire which ripped through her bedroom - she also lost photographs of her beloved father, who died 12 years ago.

The 21-year-old, of Lenham Gardens, Breightmet, was awoken by the smell of smoke in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

She jumped out of bed and discovered the portable television in her bedroom was ablaze and that flames had spread to her wardrobe.

Cheryl woke her mother, Sandra, and the pair fled the house before calling the fire brigade who managed to bring the fire under control before flames spread to the rest of the house.

Despite their efforts, the first floor bedroom had been completely destroyed and the rest of the upstairs was badly smoke damaged.

Mrs Holden said: "Cheryl is really upset, everything she owned has been completely destroyed, her clothes, CDs, everything.

"But I think the thing she is most upset about is that the photographs of her father, Christopher, have also gone up in smoke and they are just irreplaceable."

The blaze happened at 5.45am and even though the family did have a smoke alarm it was not activated until the family were racing out of the house.

Firefighters and Mrs Holden are urging people to make sure they regularly check their smoke alarms to make sure they are working properly.

Mrs Holden, who suffers from oesteoporosis, said: "If anything good can come out of this then I want it to be the message that people must be very careful at checking their smoke alarm."

Watch commander Aidy Taylor, who was at the blaze, said: "We would strongly advise people to make sure they check their smoke alarms weekly to make sure the battery is working properly.

"As well as that, once a month they should give them a clear out with a vacuum cleaner to make sure there's no dust or fluff in there to impede their sensitivity."