THE ground floor of a home was “gutted” by a fire which spread from a wheelie bin underneath a window in the back garden. 

Next-door neighbours in The Sheddings, Great Lever were alerted by their 20-week-old Doberman puppy Angel. 

Anthony Gleave said: “She started getting really anxious like she was with fireworks and we thought ‘that’s strange’."

Mr Gleave was woken by his wife at about 11.45pm on Thursday.

She told him something was wrong next door and looking out of a window he could see flames in next door's back garden. 

He said: "I went round there and we actually text her and I rang her and said, ‘Look you better be awake because your house is on fire!’

She says, ‘Yeah, I’ve just realised it’s outside.’"

A woman and a family friend in his 20s were sleeping in the house when the fire broke out. Both were able to get out of the property unharmed. 

Mr Gleave added: "They were out the house, the fire brigade turned up in about five minutes and put it out but it’s gutted inside though. 

"It’s all black smoke damage all through. 

"The back window on the dining room has totally gone. I actually heard the window pop — the fire was heating it up. "

Before the fire brigade arrive Mr Gleave attempted to tackle the fire using the outside water tap at the back of the home. 

However, he was unable to find a hosepipe connection.

The fire service attended the house fire at about 1am yesterday morning and spent 90 minutes putting out the blaze and making sure the area was safe. 

The fire investigation is ongoing but Mr Gleave has his own suspicion about how the wheelie bin caught fire.

He said: "I think it was a firework. 

"The green bin was next to the back window and then it was like a firework bang and and my missus said there’s a bit of smoke and that was it. It was all flames."

The devastation caused by the fire prompted watch manager Marc Murphy to issue a warning to residents about where they store their wheelie bins. 

He warned people not to keep their wheelie bins to close to their homes because they burn easily and if they are near to doors and windows can quickly spread to UPVC fixtures like windows and doors. 

Mr Murphy said: “It will cause the glass to fail and will get inside the property. Then it can be a very serious situation.”