A MUM and her young son will spend Christmas in a friend's flat after a fire ripped through their home.

An electrical fault in Shelly Rudge's washing machine sparked a blaze in her kitchen, and it quickly tore through her house in Rosebery Street, near Leeman Road.

The 33-year-old put her laundry on at 9.30pm on Wednesday but could soon smell a horrendous odour coming from the kitchen.

She rushed back into the room and saw flames leaping out from the bottom of the machine and immediately knew she had to get her nine-year-old son, James, outside.

Since the pair's ordeal, family, friends and Miss Rudge's colleagues have rallied round to raise £650.

She works at Cafe Nero, and every branch of the chain between York and Teesside has agreed to donate their tips to the mum-of-one, while a friend has put the family up in his Rawcliffe flat.

"As soon as I saw it I knew there was no way I could tackle the fire," said Miss Rudge.

"I could see flames coming from the bottom of the machine and with it being electrical I had nothing in the house that could fight it.

"I stayed calm - I'm quite rational and when something happens I know what I need to do, so I went straight into the living room where my son was sleeping."

The pair had spent Wednesday evening watching Christmas films and were about to go to bed when the fire broke out.

The Cafe Nero barista grabbed her son and took him outside to her car, then drove him to the end of the street before she ran back inside to get her phone.

"I stupidly went back into the house because I need my phone and I knew I could get it because the front and back of the house are quite far apart," she added.

"James was dozing so was quite taken aback at first then once he could see what was happening he was hysterical and beside himself."

Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames when they arrived but the damage was already done and thick smoke had attacked most of the rooms and rendered them uninhabitable.

The mum-of-one, however, says she has not given much thought to the damage and is relieved her son is safe.

She added: "The smoke moved so quickly through the house that I didn't realise it had gone through the living room, our bedrooms and taken a lot of our possessions.

"But my life has not been materialistic, possessions can be replaced and both of our lives are more important."

Miss Rudge did manage to salvage some Christmas presents from under her bed, but has thanked those who have donated cash to help get her life back on track.

She added: "I've been very fortunate to have a lot of good family and friends.

"It's been an unbelievable response.

"When you put your washing machine on you never think this will happen, it's a routine job I do every other night and now most of my things have gone."