THREE people and their pet dog were killed after their house exploded in flames at Chorley early today.

Neighbours were woken by two blasts from the terraced house on St Gregory's Place, shortly after 3am.

Believing the bangs to be a road accident outside, shocked residents looked out of their windows to be confronted by flames shooting from every window and door in the blazing house.

Chorley firemen were first at the scene but the flames initially fought them back. A spokesman said: "It is not often that we get to the scene of a fire to find it quite so ferocious. We were there within seconds."

It is thought the three victims were discovered in their bedrooms upstairs.

Police and fire officers are carrying out investigations to discover the cause of the blaze, which also spread through the roof into the house next door, which firemen had earlier evacuated. The house on the other side suffered smoke damage.

No identities of the dead people were being released this morning, until their relatives could be informed.

Firemen battled against the blaze for more than five hours, using four breathing sets two jets and two hose reels.

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