A HORRIFIED woman whose home went up in flames and sustained a six-figure sum in damage has called on Barnsley Council to finally take responsibility after her pleas for action to be taken on a fire hazard were allegedly ignored.

Tracy Knowles, 60, said she had been in regular contact with Barnsley Council over the state of a neighbouring garden, on Rylstone Walk, Stairfoot, which she believed was not only an ‘eyesore’ but had the potential to go up in flames.

However, on March 7, her worst nightmare became a reality.

She told the Chronicle: “I was at work when I got a call from someone across the street saying that I should come home because my house was on fire.

“I only work ten minutes away so I managed to get there pretty quickly.

“There’s five adults that live in the house and luckily everyone was at work.

“But there were also four dogs and a parrot in the house at the time of the fire they all managed to get out as well.

“The fire has taken all the top of the house off the attic bedroom is entirely gone now.

“And then there’s smoke and water damage to the rest of the house.”

It’s estimated that around £165,000 worth of damage has been caused to her property and she’s currently staying at the Travelodge off Stairfoot Roundabout.

But Tracy says that if the council had acted on her concerns when they should have done, none of this would have happened.

“It’s obvious that the fire wasn’t started on purpose, it’s an accident,” she added.

“But I’ve been telling the council that it’s an accident waiting to happen for years.

“We’re now staying at a bed-and-breakfast with four dogs.

“It’s just not fair I’m distraught.

“I kept telling the council that something like this would happen but they’ve just not taken any notice.”

To make matters worse, Tracy needs to be out of the hotel by the end of next week and she claims that the council are ‘refusing’ to take any responsibility despite the fact that she repeatedly raised the alarm bells with their staff.

“I’ve been telling them all this time that this would happen and now they say that there’s nothing they can do about it,” she said.

“I just don’t know what else I can do now.”

An incident report from the fire service, seen by the Chronicle, shows that five pumping appliances helped tackle the blaze - with petrol or oil products responsible for the fire spreading.

A spokesperson for Barnsley Council added: “We have limited powers to intervene in issues between private homeowners, and the responsibility to store materials safely falls upon the homeowners."