A DISTRAUGHT mum and her children are appealing for help after a fire devastated their house and left them with nothing.

Joanne Wyatt was in bed at her home in Marshall Avenue, Dallam, when the fire tore through the property in the early hours of Monday morning.

Fortunately, her four girls were not at home although firefighters had to rescue the 38-year-old from the first floor bedroom after she had fallen unconscious from smoke inhalation.

Her sister Sue Harpur, a Dallam youth leader, said: "The firemen said she was unconscious. Another 10 or 20 minutes and she would have been gone.

"It's thanks to her neighbour that Joanne is alive because she rang the fire brigade."

The chip pan fire means the family, who did not have insurance, have lost all but one three-piece-suite, a table and chairs and a TV.

They even lost their holiday savings for the girls first holiday in Turkey next week.

Fellow youth leader and family friend, Sue Emery, said: "It's terrible, they lost everything - clothes, bedding, curtains and toys.

"We want to do everything we can to help and are asking for people to make donations, be it clothes or anything else useful.

"They can drop them off at the community house on youth club night."

Firefighters said the blaze shows how important it is to have a properly fitted smoke alarm after they found that the family's did not have a battery in it.

A spokesman said: "She was lucky to have survived this serious incident.

"A death was narrowly averted due to neighbour smelling smoke and raising the alarm via Warrington Borough Council's 24-hour emergency line.

"However, this caused a delay in the attendance of the fire service.

"The public should be reminded to always use the 999 system if an emergency occurs."

Firefighters also issued a warning to homeowners not to leave cookers and chip pans unattended and to make sure smoke alarms are regularly tested.

If you wish to help Joanna and the girls, please bring your donations to the Dallam community house in Harrison Square on Monday or Thursday nights.

Free home fire safety visits and smoke detectors are freely available from Cheshire Fire Service.

Call 0800 389 0053 for further details.