A family has been made homeless after a neighbour apparently tried to smoke out a wasps nest while they were on holiday.

Lyndsey Brealey, 27, and her two daughters returned from a break to find her end of terrace house had been gutted in a fierce blaze.

Ten firefighters tackled the inferno which was started when a neighbour allegedly attacked a wasp nest inside a cavity wall with a burning rag on the end of a pole.

The man doused the rag in flammable white spirit before setting it alight and putting it in the gap between the two houses in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, on Bank Holiday Monday.

But a sudden gust of wind stoked the flames which quickly engulfed the entire top floor of Ms Brealey’s home and he dialled 999.

Ms Brealey and her daughters Ellie, seven, and Nicole, 11, are now staying with relatives while insurance companies investigate the blaze.

The mother-of-two said she had no idea what had happened to her home until she returned from holiday last Friday.

She said: ‘The first thing I noticed was the curtains – I remember drawing them before we left and there was nothing in the window.

‘Then I just saw what had happened and rushed in to see everything smoke damaged and burnt – the smell was horrible.

‘Ellie ran up to her room and was so upset – her toys and clothes were all damaged. We had a really good holiday and then everything just turned really bad, really quickly.

‘If Ellie was in her bedroom, it could have all been so much worse. I just don’t want to think about what could have happened.’

Her daughter Ellie lost dozens of prized possessions and a beloved hamster in the blaze.

She said: ‘All my stuff was ruined and it made me pretty sad when I first saw it all.’

Yesterday the man who started the fire said: ‘It was just a big accident. There had been a wasps’ nest in the wall cavity for some time and I decided to try to smoke them out.

‘I got a rag and put some spirit on it, then put that on the end of a pole to try to get rid of the wasps.

‘A bit of wind came and the fire just got out of control very quickly. I was surprised by how quickly it all happened.’

Ms Brealey and her daughters have been living with her aunt Angela Brealey, 44, in nearby Old Basford, Nottinghamshire, since the blaze.

Her aunt criticised Ms Brealey’s neighbour for trying to get rid of the wasps himself. She said: ‘They’ve got nowhere else to go and I wouldn’t have them going to a hostel or anything like that.

‘It’s just so daft setting fire to a house when you’re trying to get rid of wasps – why wouldn’t you call the council or something to get it sorted?’

Read more: Daily Mail