A FAMILY'S anguish at having to move out of their home before Christmas, after a fire broke out in the kitchen, has been relieved by having a precious pet back in their arms.

The Arnold family escaped from their home in Cowslip Bank, Corsham after it filled with smoke, and managed to evacuate seven of their pets, but in the confusion the family were unable to find their dog, Libby, a 12-year-old chihuahua/toy poodle cross.

She was eventually found hiding under a bed upstairs by Chippenham fire crews, about 30 minutes after the fire started in the kitchen at 1.10pm last Tuesday.

Paul Arnold, 48, a maintenance engineer for UPS, said: “It was anxious waiting for her to come out.

“She has not got a lot of years left in her but she has had a healthy life and to think that we could have lost her that way, it would have just been heart-breaking.

“She was sensible and she hid under the bed. The fireman said that is what saved her because she was under the smoke line.”

Mr Arnold, his wife, who does not wish to be named, and daughter Tara, 17, have five dogs, two cats and two guinea pigs, none of which were injured.

All the animals went to Brinkworth Kennels and Cattery after the fire but were returned to the family on Monday, in their new temporary home on Bluebell Mead, just round the corner from their house.

Mr Arnold added: “The smoke damage is phenomenal. People do not realise that it affects the whole house. It stinks.

“Tara lost lots of schoolwork. Her bedroom is above the kitchen. It got hit really badly with smoke damage.

“She is doing her A-levels. I phoned her year head and he was absolutely brilliant. She is music mental. She saved her guitars, banjo and clarinet.

"A neighbour told me that I needed to get home because your house is on fire. When I got home everything was done and dusted.

“The Corsham fire brigade came in six minutes. They were absolutely phenomenal."

The family now has to spend three months in rented accommodation.

Fire officers believe the fire, which destroyed a Welsh dresser in the kitchen, began in the digital display of the washing machine. Two crews, one from Chippenham and the other from Corsham, attended the blaze.