A teen mum feared for her children's lives when a car was torched outside her home leaving her family trapped inside.
Antonia-Leigh Maw desperately dialled 999 and watched in terror as flames spread towards her home, in Howdon Wallsend.
The nightmare unfolded early on the morning of Easter Sunday when Antonia-Leigh, her partner and her two young children were asleep in bed. The 19-year-old was woken by the sounds of screaming and banging outside.
And when she looked out the window the young mum saw flames leaping from the blazing car, which blocked the family's only way out of their home.
Thankfully firefighters were able to extinguish the fire before it spread to the home and Antonia-Leigh and her children were able to escape unhurt.
But today as police continue to hunt the arsonists responsible the mum has told how the ordeal has left her terrified in her own home.
She said: "I was screaming for my life. We couldn't get out the house. It's traumatised me, it was terrifying."
Antonia-Leigh had been looking forward to spending Easter Sunday with her sons Kaylam-Thomas, three and seven-month-old Ronnie, when her bank holiday plans were thrown into fear and chaos.
"I went to bed on Saturday night and I was excited to give the kids their Easter eggs on the Sunday morning," she explained. "I was asleep in bed and at about 5am then I hard a scream and then banging, it sounded like gun shots."
When Andrea-Leigh rolled over in bed and opened her eyes she could see a bright orange light blazing through her cream curtains.
Andrea-Leigh's partner, Cory Stott, looked out the window and shouted at her to call 999 after realising a car was ablaze outside.
"It was on the end of my drive," she said. "The flames were coming towards my house, caught on my fence and my hedge. Then it started coming towards the house and the windows were shaking.
"I was screaming on the phone, I was crying saying 'me and my babies are going to die' .
"But just as I said that I saw the blue lights and I dropped to my knees and said; 'thank God'."
Antonia-Leigh watched as firefighters extinguished the flames heading towards her home before putting out the car fire.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service received more than 10 calls about the fire.
A spokesman, said: “We can confirm that in the early hours of Sunday morning a crew from Wallsend Community Fire Station attended an incident outside of a residential property in Timlin Gardens in Howdon where there were reports of a suspected abandoned vehicle fire.
“At around 5.19am our Fire Control team received over ten emergency calls from worried members of the public with the TWFRS appliance being quickly on the scene within five-minutes of the initial report.
“The car was well alight when the crew arrived outside of the property, where firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze using two hose reels.
“The appliance left the scene at 5.32am after spending eight-minutes successfully extinguishing the fire.
“The TWFRS crew made a request for police assistance.”
Police are treating the blaze as arson and appealing for witnesses to come forward.
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: "Shortly before 5.30am on Sunday police received a report a car had been set alight outside an address Timlin Gardens, Wallsend.
“Emergency services attended and no one was injured.
“The incident is being treated as a malicious ignition and enquiries are ongoing.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact police."
And Antonia-Leigh is now furious with the reckless firestarters who put her family in danger.
She added: "I'm just so angry, thinking about it now I'm shaking. But I'm so thankful too. It could have been a lot worse."
Call Northumbria Police on 101 quoting log NP-20220417-0177.
