IT was intended as a romantic gesture to welcome his girlfriend home from a month abroad.

    But a hapless boyfriend’s attempt at setting the mood backfired when candles he placed on the bedroom floor started a blaze, which then tore through the house in Britain.

    With champagne chilling and flowers scattered, Amanj Issen used tea lights to spell out his girlfriend’s name and a heart.

    However, as he waited excitedly by the front door for Jana Stankeviciute to return, he heard a loud bang.

    Issen ran upstairs at their home in Chatham, Kent, only to be beaten back by flames and smoke.

    The couple’s bedroom was destroyed by the fire Saturday and the rest of the terraced house suffered smoke damage.

    Stankeviciute, 24, said she was still touched when Issen showed her photos of the display — and he insisted he would repeat the gesture “but maybe just with flowers and chocolates.”

    The 29-year-old builder said Sunday he was shocked the small candles had led to such extensive damage.

    His girlfriend had been visiting family in Latvia and was almost home when he was forced to call 999.

    “I just wanted to surprise Jana as I had not seen her in so long,” he said.

    The stressed couple are urgently looking for new accommodation as the rented home — which they have lived in for 15 months — has been destroyed by fire and smoke.

    Issen, who has lived in Britain for 12 years after moving from Kurdistan, said that he hopes the experience will make other people use candles safely.

    Fireman Paul Nash, who attended the blaze, said tea lights reach “extremely high temperatures,” adding: “If they’re placed directly on a plastic or combustible surface they quickly melt into the material and can cause a fire.”

    (SD-Agencies)