A mum and her five children will spend New Year's Eve sleeping on the floor of a friend's living room after a devastating fire ripped through their home on Boxing Day.
Claire Rimmer, 37, was woken up by her fire alarm at 4.15am on December 26, and went downstairs to find the kitchen of her Seaforth home filled with black smoke.
She said: "The house was covered in smoke. I got the kids out of bed and put them in the front bedroom, and went downstairs to see what was going on. I couldn't see any fire at the time because it was full of smoke. I came back upstairs and phoned 999."
