THIS was the scene after the heat from a forgotten lit candle caused a fish tank to shatter sending 100 litres of water gushing to the floor. 

Steve Whitehall, of Mossdale Close, was woken by the sound and said he just needed a 'tumblerful' of water to completely extinguish the flames.

A Cheshire Fire spokesman said the Great Sankey man often had candles burning around the home and would usually blow them out as part of a bedroom routine. 

But on Wednesday night he missed just one of them which led to the large pillar candle burning down, dripping hot wax on to a plastic garland which fell on the floor and set fire, also setting alight some Christmas presents.  

Mr Whitehall said: "We often have candles burning around the house, and are usually very careful about making sure they are all out before we go to bed or go out.

"Unfortunately, we missed one last night and I cannot believe the damage that has been caused from just that one candle.

"Please, please, everyone, take great care if burning candles.

"We now have to sort out a fire damaged lounge, replace Christmas presents and have lost over 13 fish in the blaze.

"Fortunately, two survived in the couple of centimetres of water left in the tank, but, more importantly, I dread to think what would have happened if the sound of the breaking tank hadn't woken us and alerted us to the fire."

Crew Manager Tony Taylor, who attended the incident at 6.55am on Thursday, said: "The Whitehalls have had a very lucky escape from what could have been a much more serious incident.

"Candles do need to be treated with great care, particularly at this time of the year.

"Mr and Mrs Whitehall, who have got smoke alarms fitted in their property, did the right thing by shutting internal doors before going to bed.

"This contained the fire to just the one room but we would recommend smoke alarms are fitted in rooms where candles are being burnt."