NEIGHBOURS have described the terrifying moments a house went up in flames in Aberystwyth town centre on Saturday morning.

Mike Fincken and Kerry Lewis live opposite the house in Sea View Place where six students were living at the time of the blaze.

He described the “incredible heat” of the fire, which caused glass windows to smash onto the pavement below, after waking up to “banging and shouting” as concerned neighbours rushed to get all occupants to safety.

Mr Fincken, a ship captain who works for Greenpeace, said: “We woke up to banging and shouting. Initially we thought it was revellers coming back in the early morning. We realised it was a fire after looking outside. It was a startling thing to wake up to.

“Then we realised our car was right underneath. The first thing Kerry did was call the emergency services and then grab her clothes.”

Ms Lewis, a lecturer in environmental law at Aberystwyth University, said: “The heat was incredible on the street.

“I went out to move the car, and I ran to get in the car because the heat underneath was so intense.

“I saw the window fall out onto the street.”

Mr Fincken added: “People were up and about, neighbours were down and everyone had been cleared from the property.

“The fire service was there very quickly — we heard the banging and shouting and within two minutes we heard the sirens.

“Once they were here, they instantly had the hoses on the window and it was about two minutes before the firefighters started going inside.”

See this week’s Aberystwyth edition for the full story, in shops and online now