A social club owner and his wife were yesterday praised after they got their family to safety as their home was ravaged by fire.

Bob and Yvonne Holmes smelt smoke in their flat above Clacton Social Club, in Wellesley Road, Clacton.

They made sure their daughter Judy, her husband Paul and their four children were out of the property before Mr Holmes turned the gas off and made it to safety.

The couple took over the club last December and spent £14,000 on improvements. It is hoped to reopen within a month. Firefighters today praised Mr Holmes' efforts in rescuing his family.

Leading firefighter Simon Bates said: "He was pretty on the ball".

Mr Holmes, 48, said he had locked up for the night and was having a cup of tea upstairs when he noticed the fumes.

He said: "By the time we moved from the chair to the door it was so overpowering. The others on the third floor were asleep. We just screamed upstairs and my wife ran up.

"Within a few seconds they opened the door and we were all running down the stairs. By the time they did that the stairwell was full of smoke and fumes."

Mr and Mrs Holmes stayed at the property all night to secure it while his grandchildren, Hayden, six, Katie, ten, Scott, 12 and 14-year-old Daniel slept at a neighbours.

The fire started at about 11.50pm on Monday. Mr Bates said a settee had caught fire, possibly from a discarded cigarette and the bar area had become heavily smokelogged.

The lounge area was badly damaged and the rest of the club was also damaged by heat and smoke.

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