'I went for a walk... when I got back I found the flat on fire'

FAMILY HAVE LOST EVERYTHING IN BLAZE

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

A FAMILY of five have had to move into a one-bedroom flat after losing all of their possessions in a devastating fire.

Chantelle Kennedy, 25, recalled the crushing moments a blaze broke out at her council flat in Ilkeston Road, Stapleford, where she lived with her partner and three children, aged seven, three, and six months.

Ms Kennedy had just dropped her son off at nursery and taken her baby for a walk round the block at around 9am last Wednesday when a neighbour ran out and approached her in a panic.

"I asked my neighbour to look after the baby and quickly ran towards the flat, which was on fire," Ms Kennedy recalled.

"I went to try and open the door because I didn't know what had caused it - I was trying to see if it was just a tea towel I'd left on the cooker.

"All this black smoke suddenly came out of the door and I quickly had to shut it and ran back outside."

The neighbour called 999 and, minutes later, two fire crews arrived at the block of flats and put out the blaze, which is believed to have started from a cooker in the kitchen.