NEIGHBOURS have told of their shock at seeing a house in their street on fire.

The detached property in Brunswick Avenue, Teesville, Middlesbrough, suffered severe fire damage to the back bedroom and smoke damage throughout. It is thought the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault in the bedroom.

A neighbour, who lives opposite, said: "The smoke was coming out of the roof and windows. It was quite an impressive fire.

"However, none of us saw it at first. It was spotted by a lady coming around the corner in her car. She alerted the fire brigade. Fortunately there was no one in the house at the time. However, the son did come home and could not have realised his mum was not in the house.

"He was kept at the side by the police, but he managed to give them the slip and went in through the back bedroom window when the fire had died down. He was, thankfully, not hurt.

"After the fire had been put out the firefighters threw everything out of the window on to the lawn."

The fire began at about 8.15pm on Saturday and three fire appliances attended the scene.