A FIRE chief has said it is only a matter of time before a child becomes trapped while playing in houses awaiting demolition.

The warning came from Cleveland Fire Brigade Station Officer Tony Suggitt, whose watch dealt with a blaze in three empty houses at Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, at the weekend.

Mr Suggitt said crews arrived to find between 30 and 40 children at the scene of the blaze in Derwent Road.

Children are being blamed for starting the fire, which partially damaged a living room in one of the houses.

The two adjoining properties were smoke-damaged.

" Quite a lot of the houses in that area are unoccupied. I would say 99 per cent of them are waiting for demolition. Consequently, a lot of them are open," said Mr Suggitt.

"This house youngsters set fire to was open at the rear. There was quite severe fire damage to the ground floor.

"I don't think they appreciate the dangers. In a place like that it only takes a minute or two and they can be quite easily trapped, falling on their way out or tripping over a floor board."

When crews arrive at the scene of a fire they are often told by residents that children are inside the property.

"We have no option but to conduct a full search of the house just to confirm there is no one inside," said Mr Suggitt.

"In the majority of times, happily, there is no one there, but it is only a matter of time before we get a kid stuck in there."

He said youngsters were endangering themselves and the lives of firefighters who had to go into derelict and often vandalised houses where thick smoke concealed the absence of stairs and floorboards.