Mother and son left homeless after fire

Lynn and Carl Heddle were in their home when far broke out in a back bedroom on the evening of September 23.

Carl, 24, is now living with a friend in Hollington and has been signed off from his job as a sampler for Southern Water because of the strain the fire has put him under. He is now too scared to return to the house.

He said: "I've lost everything '” my home, my clothes, my DVD player, my TV, the lot.

"I've been signed off work for two weeks because I keep getting flashbacks.

"I can hardly sleep and when I do I wake up and think there is a fire."

Recalling last week's fire, Lynn, 49, said she went to the house from the Manor pub with a friend because a woman staying there had rung and said she had taken an overdose.

She called paramedics and they got her out of her bedroom but when they left she ran back upstairs.

A few moments later the woman joined Lynn and Carl and their friend in the basement living room.

They then smelled burning, pushed past her and got out of the house.

By this time the firefighters were already on the scene because a person drinking in the Manor had seen 12-foot high flames shooting out of the roof of the house and called 999.

The fire is a second blow for Lynn, who used to run the Wheatsheaf pub in Bohemia Road.

She lost her partner, Bob, to leukaemia two months ago. Now she is without a home and living in bed and breakfast accommodation.

"I've lost all my possessions but we could have all been dead," she said.

Lynn went back to her home on Tuesday to survey the wreckage. The bedroom in which the fire started is gutted and the hallway and roof also have extensive damage.

Other rooms in the house have been blackened by smoke and it is clear it will take several weeks' work before the house can be lived in again.

Three fire crews attended the blaze which started just after 6pm at the terraced house. Neighbours were evacuated. The fire was brought under control and extinguished in 20 minutes.

A woman was questioned by investigating officer DC Richard Laws at Hastings Police Station on Wednesday but was bailed until October 23, pending further inquiries. It is still unclear how the fire started.

The woman, who was arrested at the scene of the blaze on suspicion of arson which could endanger life, is believed to be living with family in Orpington, Kent.