UK fires: Dramatic moment suspected barbecue or garden fire lit before engulfing nearby houses

This is the dramatic moment a suspected barbecue or garden fire lit on the hottest day on record in the UK spread before engulfing and destroying nearby houses.

Four homes were destroyed after the fire spread rapidly and tore through properties in Woodland Drive in Barnsley, South Yorks., within minutes.

Another house nearby was badly damaged while gardens have been damaged by the inferno.

It is believed the fire started when children living at one of the pre-fab houses started a fire between the garden shed and the boundary fence just after 3.30pm on Tuesday.

Heroic neighbours fought the flames with a hosepipe and rescued residents as they waited for the fire brigade to arrive as crews were tied up elsewhere.

CCTV footage shows smoke emerging from the scene before flames quickly take hold and the inferno spreads.

A man in the house can be seen trying to fight back the flames with a hosepipe or bucket.

Later, a woman from the house can be seen frantically pacing the street as she appears to shout for help.

Dramatically, the fire spreads and the camera cuts off as the UPVC conservatory frame the camera is sat on melts under the intense heat.

Married father-of-one Carl Fox, whose CCTV captured the beginning of the blaze, said he was 'five or ten minutes' from losing his house.