A TEENAGE girl and her dog are lucky to be alive after her family’s static caravan was burnt to the ground.

Stacey Easthaugh, 17, was left in charge of the caravan, which was home to her entire family, while her parents enjoyed a week’s holiday in France.

But on Sunday, she decided to spend the night with relatives, taking the family pet, Chester, a 12-year-old springer spaniel, with her.

It turned out to be the best decision of her life.

Overnight, crooks set fire to the caravan, destroying not only the family’s home but also their possessions, including precious childhood photo albums and home videos.

On hearing the news, her parents, Graeme Brown and Debi Lister, interrupted their holiday and drove home as quickly as possible.

But the trauma was even worse for Mr Brown’s sister Pamela, who lives nearby and thought Stacey was still inside the caravan when she saw flames ripping through it.

Ms Lister, 40, said: “I still can’t believe that Stacey and Chester are still alive.”

Mr Brown and Ms Lister had left their caravan home, in Browney, near Durham, for a week’s holiday in Saint Malo in the early hours of Thursday, October 22.

They were enjoying the break when they received a call from a distressed Stacey at about 3am, on Monday.

Ms Lister said: “Stacey was supposed to be in there. I just said ‘are you all right?’”

The couple drove back immediately, but not before the inferno had torn through their home.

“I couldn’t believe it.

“Nobody would have stood a chance,” Ms Lister said.

“You can’t replace kids’ photographs and videos from when they were babies.

“The only thing good is we weren’t coming back to identify bodies.”

Mr Brown, 49, has lived in Browney for 45 years.

His father, Ernest, served as a local councillor.

He and his partner bought their caravan six weeks ago, for £4,000.

They have now been forced to return to a nearby bungalow which they moved out of due to a legal dispute, with only the clothes they took on holiday to their name.

A Durham Police spokesman said the incident was being treated as arson.

Anyone with information is asked to call Durham Police on 0345-60-60-365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.