She then tried to smother the flames with a blanket, causing a huge fire which gutted their council home in just minutes.

The blaze started in the early hours of Saturday morning when little Courtney, of Beech Grove, took a lighter from her parents' bedroom and set fire to the cuddly toy.

Rachael Carr, 21, and Ricky Hedley, 24, – also parents to Lewis, four, and Korie, three – were asleep at the time, and were woken by their daughter's screams.

"We don't know why she did it. We think she didn't like the toy and tried to get rid of it, but then tried to put the fire out when she realised what she'd done," said Rachael.

"I don't know where I got the strength from, but I immediately scooped all of my three children up in my arms and took them outside," she added.

"Ricky took them to my mum's and I just stood and watched the house burn. It felt like our whole lives were falling apart."

Delivery driver Ricky described the support from fire crews and the British Red Cross as 'amazing' – but said Bassetlaw Council fell severely short in their response.

He claimed it took several tries to get A1 Housing officials to secure the property, and that the council said temporary accommodation that evening was likely to be in Sheffield or Mansfield.

"This was just not acceptable. All of our family is in Carlton and we needed somewhere nearby," he said.

"I felt we'd got appalling treatment, and it was a nightmare trying to get a response from them, although Anne Jepson at the council did a fantastic job."

Chris Shaw, head of environment and housing at Bassetlaw Council, said he realised the council had not responded as quickly as the family expected, and said every step has been taken to re-house them.

"This was a very traumatic incident for the whole family and we have responded as quickly as we could," he said. "Unfortunately, it's not possible to provide full scale cover over the Bank Holiday period, but we got a joiner out to secure the property within two hours of the call."

Joice Richards, A1 Housing's director of strategy and change, said officers had already allocated the family a two-bedroomed flat in Carlton this week, and work was starting on restoring their old home.

"The temporary accommodation will enable the family to continue to receive family support during this stressful time," she said. "And A1 Housing will continue to support the family."

Rachael said the experience of having to split the family up while staying at family and friends' houses in Carlton had been traumatic, and said the thought of returning to their former home was 'unbearable'.

"I will never forget watching the windows melting and the glass smashing," she said. "I get horrible flashbacks everytime I smell smoke. The most heart-wrenching thing is seeing the children's burnt toys."

"My children are having horrible nightmares because they don't understand it," she added.