Fire at Fergie's home after scented candle left alight in the loo

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The Duchess of York is facing a £20,000 clean-up bill after nearly burning down her house as she left a scented candle alight in her lavatory.

The alarm was raised by a housekeeper who smelled smoke after Sarah Ferguson, 48, left her Surrey home so that she could attend a business meeting in London yesterday.

The flames were put out by ten firefighters but caused fire and smoke damage to the bathroom furnishings at Dolphin House, the duchess's country home in Englefield Green.

Fire engines had to be taken in through the electronic gates at the front of the duchess's country home.

It is not thought her children Beatrice, 19, and Eugenie, 17, were staying at the house at the time of the fire.

The house is situated less than a mile from her former husband Prince Andrew's home at Royal Lodge, Windsor.

A fire brigade officer said: "The duchess may not feel that lucky right now but this fire could have been very much worse.

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The fire caused damage to bathroom furnishings at Dolphin House, the duchess's country home in Englefield Green, Surrey

"If the housekeeper had not been there to react so quickly, it could have destroyed much more than a bathroom suite."

The duchess moved into the house last year after the sale of the former family home at Sunninghill Park, near Ascot.