Young animal-lover Tamara Swan's instincts stopped her home burning down -- and saved the lives of her three pets trapped inside.

Tatania the kitten, Apache the boxer dog and Jemma the Alsatian-cross narrowly escaped death, thanks to Tamara and the firefighters of Illingworth's Blue Watch.

Fire swept through the seven-year-old's house in Sheep Hill Lane, Clayton Heights, Bradford, as she tucked into Christmas dinner with her grandparents in nearby Lidget Green.

After the meal, Tamara complained of feeling ill and insisted that dad David take her back to their three-roomed cottage.

When Mr Swan, 53, a former music producer who worked with The Jam and Leo Sayer, opened the front door, he was confronted by a wall of flames.

He said: "The smoke and flames just flew at me. I could see Apache and Jemma still in their baskets at the other side of the room.

"They weren't barking or moving. They were sitting there petrified. I managed to coax them out but couldn't find Tamara's kitten anywhere. The smoke was too thick.

"My neighbour called the fire brigade and they used breathing apparatus to find Tatania, who was cowering behind a wardrobe in my music room.

"Tamara was in the car screaming. All she was interested in was getting the cat out.

"If she hadn't insisted we came home at that exact time, Lord knows what might have happened.

"The funny thing was she also insisted on taking all her Christmas presents with us to her grandparents that morning. She must have a sixth sense."

Fire crews from Illingworth and Odsal traced the fire to a faulty lamp on a wooden table.

Odsal Station Officer Frank Hutchinson said: "After the fire was out, officers put on breathing apparatus and searched the house. We didn't expect to find anything, but we found the kitten alive and well behind a wardrobe.''