Brave neighbours burst into a burning house to rescue a teenage boy only to find he was not at home.

They smashed their way through the back door of the house in Ashdown Way, Grove, near Wantage, freeing the lad's two dogs and five cats in the searing heat.

They looked for 14-year-old Tony Reed, but he was out.

Neighbour Hilary Rose, who raised the alarm, said: "You could see flames coming out of the bedroom window and then the window blew out and the tiles started coming off."

Tony's mum Denise Reed was in Wantage recreation ground watching a band at the town's Festival of Arts when she heard about the blaze.

Her two daughters Sam, 11, and Donna, 16, were with her but she feared Tony might be trapped in the flames.

One neighbour ran upstairs to find Tony and reached the middle landing of the three-storey house before being beaten back by flames.

Fortunately, Tony was seeing friends at nearby Mill Brook Square, although his possessions were destroyed.

Ms Reed said: "Everything in Tony's bedroom has gone as well as what was in the bathroom. Tony only has what he's standing up in."

"I'd only just finished decorating the house from top to bottom and now this. We believe the fire was started by an electrical fault."

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