A GRANDMOTHER has spoken of how she “lost everything” in a fire from which she escaped with her life.

Linda Beagley told how she was lucky to be alive after the blaze swept through her Hampshire home.

The entire first floor of the property in King's Somborne was engulfed by the flames, the heat of which shattered windows throughout the house.

Mrs Beagley said she ran downstairs calling for her fiancé Jeff Richardson after seeing the curtains in her bedroom were on fire.

Within minutes the fire had spread with six-foot flames leaping from the upstairs, producing thick, black smoke which engulfed the house and forced the pair, along with their cat Simba and their nine-year-old springer spaniel Purdey, to flee to a neighbour’s house.

Crews from Stockbridge, Romsey and Eastleigh rushed to the semi-detached house at Nutchers Drove in King's Somborne at 6.34pm on Tuesday, but the fire had already spread throughout the first floor.

Now the grandmother and mum-of-two who has lived in the house for three years says she has lost everything in the blaze including clothes, valuables and precious photographs of her children and mother.

Linda said: “I was stood upstairs in the hallway. I was just about to go downstairs and I caught site of the flames and realised the curtain was on fire.

“Within seconds I shouted for Jeff. I grabbed a fire extinguisher but then the whole room was black with smoke.

“My neighbour was kind enough to put us up for the night and has given us some clothes to put on. I’ve lost everything, photos of my children, my mother. We’re lucky we’re alive.”

Grandad and dad-of-four Jeff, 61, a decorator said: “I was sat in the lounge and I heard screaming. I wondered what was going on.

“As I came up the stairs it was just black with smoke. I just wanted to know my dog was safe.

“The fire brigade were fantastic. They did a fantastic job. I shook all of their hands.

An initial investigation by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service concluded the fire is likely to have started as a result of a lamp coming into contact with curtains in the bedroom.

Safety advice has been issued as a result.

A spokeswoman said: “The message would be to make sure bedside lamps are clear of anything around it including curtains.”