A MOTHER and her five-month-old son escaped a fire which left them homeless.

Julie-Ann Whiteaker, 38, of Central Avenue, in Canvey, was at home with her son, Stanley, as the fire broke out in her garage at around 1.40pm.

They escaped unharmed but the family of five’s home has been left uninhabitable just days before Christmas.

Crews from Canvey and Rayleigh Weir were called to the house near to Central Avenue’s junction with Concord Road.

Firefighters battled the blaze as it spread to her adjoining house, but were able to bring it under control by 3pm.

The fire caused a section of Central Avenue to be shut off while emergency services remained at the scene.

Mrs Whiteaker’s husband, elder son and daughter were not at home at the time of the fire.

Carl Pullen, incident commander from the fire service, confirmed that an investigation into the cause of the blaze is ongoing, and that the house is unsafe to live in because if smoke damage.

Jim Aicken, a neighbour living on Central Avenue, says a sudden loud noise from the blaze startled him and made it clear something wasn’t right.

Mr Aicken, 70, said: “I was just relaxing in front of the TV, and I suddenly heard this massive bang.

“I went to have a look and see what caused it, I assumed it would just be an accident or something. I then looked out of my door and just saw smoke and flames pouring out. The garage door had just been blown off completely. The fire service were on the scene very quickly, and handled it extremely well.

“It must be just horrible for the family, and it comes right before Christmas.”

Adam Chelton, 43, Mrs Whiteaker’s brother, says the incident has left her shaken up and that she can count on strong support from her family.

Mr Chelton, of Roggle Road, said: “She was just sitting in the lounge and suddenly started to smell smoke.

“She went to look and saw the fire. Obviously she and Stanley were able to get out quickly, which is the main thing.

“They’ll have somewhere to go and we’ll all be there for them.”