Families had to flee after a blaze tore through an end-of-terrace house.

Vicky Giles, her husband Jack and their three children were at their home in Felderland Close, Maidstone, at around 1.15pm on Tuesday when their next-door neighbour banged on the door to say her property was on fire.

Jack ran inside to see if he could put it out.

Vicky said: “He went up to see the size of the fire to see if he could put it out, but he knew it was too big for him to stop it so he ran back out.

“He asked if she needed anything and she said bottles for the baby, so he ran back into the kitchen to get them.

“We were all outside telling him to get out because the windows started blowing out.”

Vicky said she took the neighbour’s children into her home, but then her husband told her to get everyone out.

The mum-of-three said: “We didn’t have time to grab our coats or shoes, we had to go straight out with our slippers on. We were all lucky everyone got out safe, but next door have lost everything.”

Three fire crews were called and spent three-and-a-half hours making the scene safe while the families waited outside.

Vicky said: “Our neighbours were coming out to offer us drinks and to let us stay in their houses until we could get back into ours.

“We’re back in now but there is soot damage to the paintwork, the guttering is burnt, the loft contents all around the wall next to the fire are damaged, and the installations in the loft are black from the fire.

“There’s soot everywhere, even in the kitchen cupboards. We’ve had to clean everything, but the smell of smoke is still lingering.”

No one was hurt in the blaze, which started accidentally in a bedroom.

Vicky said the blaze was "very traumatic for everyone".

She added: "My eldest daughter is eight and she's woken up crying, worried about the house. My five-year-old and two-year-old are also crying and upset, they're so worried about the house and what's happened to their toys and everything.

"We've all been upset and crying. I was so worried about my kids. It happened really quickly. My husband tried his best to help but there wasn't much he could do."

She said her neighbour David Stubberfield had checked his CCTV footage afterwards, and told her everyone was lucky to get out when they did.

She said yesterday: “If it wasn’t for the wall being made of brick our house would’ve been on fire too. The fire engines turned up just in time as when they got here the fire was just outside our window.

“We now have black carpets, black walls, and need to check what was lost in the loft.”

Neighbours reported smoke damage to their houses, and water damage to their homes from when fire crews fought the flames.