A TEN-YEAR-OLD boy has been reunited with his pet hamster after she was rescued from their smoke-logged home by firefighters.

Barbara the hamster was carried to safety by fire crews after a pan started smoking in her home in Anderson Walk, Bury St Edmunds, while her owners were out.

Owner Roman Lagowski, 38, said his wife, Ewa, 37, had left some meat cooking on the hob while the couple went to play football with their son, Mikolaj, 10, on the green near their home at about 7.25pm on Wednesday.

A short time later, the family got a call from a neighbour to say fire crews were inside their house. Two fire engines from Bury were called after a neighbour heard a smoke alarm sounding for about 20 minutes.

“I nearly had a heart attack,” Roman said. “We got back home as soon as we could.”

Firefighters had broken down a door to get into the empty home then carried out a search.

Instead of finding casualties, a caring firefighter found Barbara and carried her to safety in a neighbour’s house.

Mikolaj, Barbara’s owner, said: “She was a very brave hamster. When she came back from the neighbour’s she seemed anxious but she went in her wheel.”