Several people escaped from inside two Accrington homes this morning after an old bird nest in a chimney caused a fire.

Firefighters said people need to check their chimney's are clean following the blaze at around 11am on Whalley Road.

Crew manager Alex Fletcher said: "The chimney hadn't been checked for a while. Smoke was spotted going into a neighbouring property so several people got out of the two houses.

"We arrived and used a ladder appliance to get above the chimney. There was an old bird nest inside it. We also used ventilation fans to clear smoke from the properties before letting people back in 45 minutes later. People need to regularly get an engineer to check their chimney so there is a clear fume passage all the way through."