RESIDENTS had a lucky escape after a washing basket filled with hot laundry IGNITED and spread roaring flames throughout the kitchen.

Shortly before going to bed around midnight, a homeowner took hot clothing out of the tumble dryer and put them straight in a basket before closing the kitchen door and going to sleep.

However, the heat from the synthetic-based clothing became trapped in the centre of the washing pile and caught alight.

By the time firefighters arrived at Greenacres Lane in Winnersh, shortly after 5am, flames had gutted the kitchen and smoke billowed throughout the bungalow.

Crew manager Danny Wheeler admitted the residents, a middle-aged couple and two teenage boys, were lucky to be alive after the sheer volume of smoke which filled the property.

Mr Wheeler, based at Wokingham Road Fire Station, said: "The clothes had come out of the dryer and put straight into a basket before they went to bed.

"They were very hot.

"Unfortunately they hadn't realised and they had just left it and gone to bed.

"There was a significant amount of damage to the kitchen.

"The residents were quite shaken and upset.

"Fortunately they had shut the kitchen door before they went to bed. I would suggest that went a pretty long way in saving their lives."

Crews doused the flames with water before airing the smoke from the property.

Mr Wheeler warned residents to leave clothes in the dryer to cool or at least shake them out before transferring them to a basket.

He continued: "Certain fibres take longer to cool. These were synthetic.

"They retain an immense amount of heat and when you bundle them up it's almost like a bale of hay.

"There is no where for the heat to go so it just expands from the middle and ignites."