A GRANDMOTHER newly diagnosed with bowel cancer last night spoke of the moment she learned her house had been destroyed in a suspected arson attack.

Tracy Poskett was in the middle of her first hospital appointment since her cancer diagnosis when she received the devastating news in a phone call from her daughter.

Last night she said her family still "feared for their lives", as she made an emotional return to the ruins of the family home.

And she revealed that it was only thanks to the grandmother-of-six's pet dog Scruffy springing into action that her 17-year-old son managed to escape unscathed.

The terraced house belonging to Mrs Poskett and her husband Craig was gutted when it went up in flames with their son Reid inside on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking from the burnt-out property on Spennymoor's Park Parade yesterday, Mrs Poskett said: "I feel like my life has come to an end. We've got nothing – just the clothes we were standing in.

"We've got no savings and I don't know how we can rebuild a house."

The mother-of-three, who has lived in the house for 14 years, was at her first hospital appointment following a diagnosis of bowel cancer when she got the call just after 4pm to say it was alight.

Daughter Trish Poskett, 27, delivered the news to her mother over the phone as she watched the fire engulf the kitchen – where a window was smashed and the blaze started.

Mrs Poskett had only been out of the house for less than an hour but rushed back to Spennymoor where emergency services worked to tackle the flames.

She said Reid had been in the front living room, listening to music through headphones, at the time the fire broke out.

"The dog saved Reid's life," she added. "The dog started going crazy and was barking like hell. Reid said he could smell smoke and heard a 'smash' then a 'whoosh'."

The Bishop Auckland College pupil went to investigate but could not see for thick, black smoke and then heard something crash land at his feet.

Though her son and pet were uninjured, the house was wrecked inside and Mrs Poskett is now grieving the loss of precious, irreplaceable photographs of her family through the years including those of her late father.

Unable to afford house or contents insurance following 48-year-old Mr Poskett's third heart attack last year, the pair are now in a desperate call for help to rebuild their home.

"I've never asked for anything in my life," said Mrs Poskett. "I just don't know what we're going to do."

Thanks to the generosity of people in Spennymoor, the family have had clothes donated to them and have been put them up in a house free of charge for a month by Liam Huntrods, of building services company LHBCS.

Mother-of-three Trish Poskett, who spends every day at her mother's home, said: "We're a well known family round here and nobody can understand why this has happened to my mum."

A funding page has been set up for the family and can be found online at gofundme.com/the-poskett-family-house-fire-fund

* Durham Police this week confirmed a 20-year-old who had been arrested on suspicion for arson with intent to endanger life had been released pending further enquiries.