ARSONISTS carried out a life-threatening attack on the family home of a woman with severe learning difficulties as she slept.

Jennifer Simpson, 40, was on her own in the property on Yews Hill Road, Thornton Lodge, when an incendiary device was shoved through the letter box in the early hours of the morning.

The door started to melt and the house began to fill with smoke as Jennifer slept upstairs.

It was only after a passer-by noticed smoke coming from the house that the fire service was alerted.

Although the smoke alarm had gone off, Jennifer, who does not live in the house but had been visiting her parents, was still asleep when firefighters broke in to rescue her.

She had to be taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to be treated for smoke inhalation, but was otherwise unharmed.

Her mum, Elaine, 66, said: “I’m shaken up.

“To think of what could have happened is awful.

“I don’t mind the house being burnt, but Jennifer is an ill person and she wouldn’t have been able to do anything if the fire had spread. It is just terrible.”

Elaine and her husband, Gladstone, 72, were at a club in Paddock when police arrived to tell them what had happened at about 2am on January 30.

The couple, who have lived in Thornton Lodge for about 30 years and have four other children, were taken to see their daughter at HRI.

Elaine, a retired textiles worker, added: “She has taken it better than I have, she has encouraged me and said she’s OK. I’m so glad, because I thought she might have a relapse.”

The house had some smoke damage and the front door was destroyed.

It is thought a small metal grate just inside the house stopped the fire from spreading as quickly as it might have done.

Gladstone, a former brickyard worker, said: “We have never had any problems with anyone round here, we just don’t understand why anyone would want to do this.

“We might have to think about installing some extra security.”

West Yorkshire Police said a man and a woman, both aged 24, had been arrested in connection with the incident.

They have been bailed pending further enquiries.

Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to contact Det Sgt Nigel Gittins at Huddersfield CID on 01484 436682.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has launched a campaign to crack down on a spate of suspected arson attacks in Thornton Lodge.