A GRAYS family has appealed for help on social media after losing many of their household possessions in a flats fire.

Julia Cotton has launched a fundraising page after the incident at the home of her daughter and four-year-old grandson.

Thurrock Nub News reported on the incident here.

The blaze, in a seventh floor flat at Lionel Oxley House on New Road on Tuesday, 26 October, began after clothes were placed on an electrical heater. Seven fire crews dealt with the incident after other residents were alerted but told to stay in their homes.

Station Manager Russ Freeman from Grays Fire Station was the Incident Commander and said: "The fire was caused by clothes which were placed too close to a portable heater. An item of clothing caught fire and spread to furniture close by.

"When drying clothes, the public are reminded to never place them close to any radiant heat sources such as portable electric heaters. Always place clothes on airers well away from the heat source itself."

In the wake of the fire Julie says: "My daughter is a single parent who struggles like most just trying to get by giving her son the best possible life she can. Unfortunately she is now having to try and start all over again. Any help would be so gratefully appreciated not only by them but us as a family as this is a very upsetting time for us all."