A family-of-five had a lucky escape after a candle burned through the case of a television set in their attic.

A 17-year-old boy who was sleeping in the room at the house in Albert Avenue, Saltaire, woke shortly before 6am yesterday to find it full of choking smoke.

He tried to put out the flames before running downstairs and waking the rest of his family.

His 35-year-old mum said she was “shocked” to be woken to smoke filling the house. “He said ‘mum, come quick, help!” she said. “I didn’t really think about it then. I just wanted to get the kids out.”

She and her daughters, aged one and seven, the 17-year-old and her other son, 15, all got out safely but the attic was left badly damaged.

The 17-year-old was taken to hospital because of smoke inhalation and released yesterday afternoon.

Shipley watch commander Lee Miller said: “Although the property had smoke detectors there wasn’t one in the attic itself. He only noticed the fire when he woke up and smelled the smoke. There were lots of plastics in the room, DVDs, games and the smoke was thick. He’s a lucky young man, it could easily have become a fatality.”

Mr Miller warned about the dangers of leaving candles burning unattended and not putting them in holders.

He added: “This lad had put a tea light straight on top of the telly and it had burned right through.”

To get a free home fire safety check call 0800 587 4536.