A BLAZE has destroyed a house in the Church Hill South area of Redditch.

Town firefighters were called to the fire in Heronsfield Close at just after 1pm on Thursday, January 9.

It is believed there was a fault with a tumble dryer which eventually caught fire. Nobody was in the property at the time, but a woman from the house returned and raised the alarm when she realised there was a fire.

A fire service spokesman said: "The real problem was that the wind was blowing straight through the house, causing the flames to rip up the stairs, which became like a chimney.

"There is almost nothing left of the house, but thankfully nobody was in there at the time."

A member of the public said neighbours had tried to access the rear of the property to extinguish the fire but were kept back by the intense heat, and he also said the mood in the neighbourhood was extremely sombre, as the owners of the destroyed house were well respected members of the community.