The bedroom blaze completely gutted the room while its tenant was away on holiday.

The landlord of the house on Alicia Avenue, Pound Hill came home to the smell of burning and finding staining around the door, he called the fire brigade.

Although the fire burnt itself out before fire crews arrived, they used breathing apparatus and a hose reel to make sure the blaze was completely out and to ventilate the first floor bedroom.

Firefighter Terry Beck said: "The bedroom is 80 per cent damaged by smoke and heat.

"Bedroom fires are not very common, it's usually children playing with matches or a candle, but there was no one in the house at the time."

He added that the house owner, who didn't want to be identified, was very shaken up by the experience.

It's thought that the room was rented out by a female lodger who was away at the time.

The cause of the blaze was unclear but fire investigation officers recorded it as accidental.