A FIRE ripped through a house after a coat left hanging up dropped on to a table lamp and set alight.

Firefighters were called to a terraced house in Millett Street, Bury at about 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

Within minutes the blaze had engulfed the downstairs, destroying two rooms.

A woman in the house was alerted to the blaze by the smoke alarms and raised the alarm.

Neighbour Vadzim Chalau was at home with his wife and children when the fire broke out.

He said: "It happened very quickly, it was scary.

"There was a lot of smoke and we did not know if the fire was going to spread, so we got our possessions out."

Pete Fletcher, watch manager at Bury Fire Station, said: "The fire took hold quickly, we got there in three or four minutes and it was well developed.

"There was extensive damage to the house, two rooms were destroyed by the fire and the rest of the house was severely damaged by smoke.

"The fire was started we believe by a coat falling on to a lamp."

He added: "The smoke alarms alerted the lady inside to the fire and she got out."

It took crews from Bury, Ramsbottom and Heywood two hours to fully extinguish the fire and firefighters remained on the scene for two hours as part of the investigation into the fire.

Mr Fletcher urged households to ensure they had working smoke alarms in the property.