The neighbour who rang 999 after a Reading home went up in flames described how the fire spread through the building in minutes.

The blaze, which began at 9.40pm, had destroyed the roof and blackened the inside of the house in Stapleford Road by the time emergency services arrived at 9.55pm, said Chris Ames.

She said residents in nearby houses woke up to a sound like fireworks before seeing the smoke.

Read more: Arson investigation launched after house fire

“It was obviously upsetting, I felt quite shaken. I think the worst thing was not knowing if anybody was in the house,” said Ms Ames.

After calling the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue, Ms Ames rushed over to the adjoining house and banged on the door to make sure the occupants were safe.

Neighbours then banged on the windows of the burning building, not knowing whether the three residents were still inside.

Read more: Firefighters rush to house fire in Woodley

Fortunately, no one was injured.

“It went up really fast” she said.

“It seemed to start on the right-hand side of the house and then it spread through the rest of the house.”

She continued: “It’s had it. The brick is there but everything else is gone, the roof’s gone, you can see that everything inside is completely burnt.

The house fire is one of two that occured in the Reading area last weekend. 

On Sunday, firefighters rushed to another blaze in Fosters Lane, Woodley.

Police are treating that fire as arson.