A 'CARELESSLY discarded cigarette' led to a fire in the back yard of a family home.

Firefighters were called to an address in Hollins Road just at about 12.30 am this morning.

The cigarette had set light to rubbish at the back of the house and the fire destroyed the back door and windows.

The family of two adults, and two children under the age of 10 were able to get out of house unharmed.

Watch commander Andrew Turner said: "There was a lot of domestic rubbish. They were fairly new tenants and had piled up rubbish in the back yard.

"They had been smoking and threw one away. It shows the importance of having working smoke alarms. And, if you are smokers, to make sure you dispose of cigarettes carefully using water, not just flick them away."