Video Loading

A house was gutted by a fire in the early hours of this morning.

A taxi driver spotted flames and smoke billowing from a semi-detached property on York Avenue in Fartown at 3am on Friday morning.

Firefighters from Huddersfield Fire Station donned breathing apparatus to search the house and fight the flames, fearing someone may be inside.

But after a report that an elderly couple lived there, the house was empty.

Huddersfield Watch Commander Graham Calcraft, of Green Watch, said: “If the taxi driver hadn’t spotted it when he did there would be nothing left.

“He saw smoke and flames coming from a ground floor window and called us.

“When we got there the ground floor was 100% involved in the fire.

“The neighbour wasn’t sure if an elderly couple lived there, so four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went in, we had two hose reels to deal with the fire.

“There was nobody inside.”

The property has been largely gutted by the 3am blaze.

Police and fire investigations teams will now try to establish how the fire started.