'I feel numb': Northampton mum-of-two loses home after fire starts in the two minutes it took to check on dinner downstairs

A Northampton mum and her two young sons have been left with "nothing but the clothes they stand in" after losing their home was devastated by a fire on Sunday.

Shonie Coates, 24, and her two boys have been left to pick up the pieces from their two-bedroom home in Somerset Drive, Duston, after a blaze broke out upstairs on April 5.

The mum-of-two told the Chronicle & Echo: "I just feel numb.

"At 8pm, I went downstairs to check on dinner.

"I was literally gone for two minutes. By the time I got upstairs my telly was up in flames."

Shonie rushed to get her two boys outside and call the fire service when she realised she wouldn't be able to put it out herself.

"By the time the fire brigade got there it had gotten so much worse," Shonie said.

"The fire service told us it wasn't safe to stay there any longer. It's destroyed everything upstairs and there's smoke damage throughout the house.

"The boys have been left with the clothes they're standing in. They don't really understand what's happened. I've lost lots of personal possessions I can never replace.

"I'm just trying to get my life back on track now. I couldn't even just go stay with my mum because she's self-isolating."

Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue say the blaze was started by a candle near to the upstairs television.

Now, Shonie's brother Antony has set up a crowdfunding page to help his sister piece her life back together.He said: "I just want to support her. I've got a few hundred pounds to give her but it hurts that I couldn't do more.

"She can't even buy the boys new clothes because all the shops are closed.

"We've never had to do something like this before"

For more information, visit the family's GoFundMe page.