A “CHILLING” fire has gutted a family home – said to have once been owned by a Lea & Perrins sauce co-founder.

Thirty-five firefighters in five engines descended on the semi-detached property in Lansdowne Crescent Lane at 7.05am yesterday and battled the blaze for four hours.

A neighbour described seeing a plume of smoke coming from the roof and said she understands it is a listed Georgian property, formerly the home of city entrepreneur John Wheeley Lea.

The eye witness, who did not wish to be named, said the owners had gone out to walk their dog, leaving behind their two sons, thought to be in their 20s.

She said the pair then came running out into the street “in their boxer shorts and pyjamas” as smoke seeped from the roof.

“It must’ve been gutted upstairs,” she added.

Hereford & Worcester Fire Service has said the fire is believed to have been started accidentally and confirmed nobody was hurt.

The witness said: “I didn’t exactly see what happened. The owners had gone out to walk the dogs and their two lads were out of there in their boxer shorts and pyjamas.

“I saw three fire engines – one outside the house, one in front of me and one down the street.”

She continued: “Smoke was coming out of the window and out of the roof. It might’ve damaged the roof – it spread into the roof. It just went on and on and on.

“It’s a Georgian listed house. It’s Lea House, as in Lea and Perrins. Mr Lea owned that house and Mr Perrins owned next door, I think."

She said the owners came back around 8am after their sons had been attempting to contact them and the four subsequently left.

A fire crew came back to the property at around 3pm for a reinspection and the windows and doors were left open, as were those of the home next door.

“It might’ve affected the roof,” said the witness. “The roof space – there’s nothing to divide them.”

She went on to say, the fire “stopped and then suddenly took off again”.

“I’d never seen it done before, the hosepipe blasted against the house like that and it was quite chilling. Firing your roof with water. Water goes down into the sitting room and the cellar.

“The fire won't have affected down the bottom, but the water will have,” she added.

A fire spokesman said crews from Worcester, Malvern, Evesham, Pershore, Droitwich and Bromsgrove were at the scene.

Breathing apparatus, thermal imaging cameras and main jets were all used.