cotton pants were a lifesaver

A family home was saved from burning down when a pair of giant knickers were used to put out a fire.

Jenny Marsey's size 18-20 cotton pants were a lifesaver when they were grabbed to cover a frying pan fire at her home in Meryl Gardens, Hartlepool, Teesside.

Her son and nephew were trying to fry some bread when the blaze broke out.

But the quick-thinking pair used the Marks & Spencer underwear from a pile of washing, doused them in water, and threw them over the fire

via. There'll always be an England. Fried bread. Giant knickers. Chip pan fires. Marks and Spencer. Drunken teenagers. An English rose.

Ms Marsey adds: "I think if they had been my daughter Sarah's skimpy knickers they wouldn't have done any good.