DON'T RISK IT

Neighbour and her mother saved Natálie and toddler's lives in blaze

- RYAN CARROLL

A MUM has lost everything after a cheap tablet burst into flames and burned down her home.

Natalie McNeill, 44, was in her flat in Greenock with her two year-old daughter Melanie when a blaze broke out at about 8.30pm on January 4.

The fire started after the tablet which she had recently purchased from budget website Temu set her bed alight.

The mum of three said her home has now been destroyed and all her belongings lost.

Natalie said: "It was horrifying. I'm still traumatised by it. I was downstairs taking down my Christmas tree when it happened.

"Thankfully I had picked Melanie up and taken her downstairs with me.

"All of a sudden, my smoke alarm started going off, then I started to hear crackling coming from upstairs.

"My neighbour Jade was in the house and I screamed at her to grab Melanie as I started running up the stairs.

"I ran over to where the Temu tablet had been sitting but by that time there were flames shooting out of the bed.

"I tried to smother the fire with a blanket but it was spreading too fast. The flames just shot up above me."