An elderly woman escaped injury this evening when the ground floor of her house in Carmel Street, Paola, caught fire.

Informed sources said a mattress caught fire and the flames spread quickly to other parts of the house owing to a large quantity of old clothes and other material in the rooms.

Two fire engines of the Civil Protection Department were on the scene and the firemen managed to control the blaze.

The fire is thought to have started from a candle which the woman uses instead of electricity.