A COUNCIL worker was lucky to escape after children torched a house he was working in yesterday morning.

The man was fitting a kitchen in an empty property in the Grove Hill area of Middlesbrough when the blaze began, just after 11am.

He managed to get out in time to alert the fire brigade before the flames spread.

Middlesbrough Fire Station Officer Ron Carr said the incident could have been much more serious.

"The man had actually been talking to some kids out the back of the house. All of a sudden, he realised the children had set fire to the rear of the property.

"The joiner was fortunate in getting out. If he'd been upstairs, he could have been trapped by the fire because empty council properties are boarded up with metal frames."

The blaze caused smoke damage to two Middlesbrough Council-owned properties and a linked outhouse. The incident is being investigated by police.