A MAN has been charged with arson after a fire at the home of his ex-partner in Worcester.

Martin Wayne Brookes, aged 32, has been charged with arson following a fire at the home of 36-year-old Rachel Pullen in Somers Road, Barbourne, Worcester, on Monday evening.

Brookes of Hathaway Close, Dines Green, Worcester appeared at Redditch Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with arson with intent/being reckless as to whether life was endangered, use of violence to secure entry, two counts of criminal damage and breach of a restraining order.

He has been remanded in custody to appear at Worcester Crown Court in September.

We reported how firefighters had to break into the locked semi to extinguish the blaze using a hose reel and breathing apparatus.

Miss Pullen, a mother-of-three, arrived home to the shock of finding her house on fire.

She believes the fire started in a children's toy box and says she lost most of her possessions, including her clothes, during the the blaze.

Speaking exclusively to the Worcester News, Miss Pullen said she was out celebrating her daughter's ninth birthday and rushed back to find fire crews already tackling the fire as smoke billowed out of the windows.

Miss Pullen, who is staying with relatives and does not know when she will be able to move back in, said: "I don't know what to think. I just want to get on with my life."

She managed to salvage a wooden chest full of photographs, including of her children, and other mementos which mercifully were left relatively unscathed by the fire, although a few picture frames were damaged.

She said: "Everything else is smoke-damaged. There is nothing you can really use in there now. We did try to get a couple of things. It was all smelly.

"The smoke has gone into the clothing. I'm going to try and buy some new clothes now.

"I'm quite nervous. I suffer from depression and anxiety and I'm on medication for that at the moment. I've been to the doctors and they've given me some stronger medication. I've struggled to sleep."

Miss Pullen has lived in the Fortis Living property for two-and-a-half years.

She has only recently moved back in after a previous fire at the property in March.