A dad grabbed his children and got them out of his home after he heard a loud bang and saw a flash of flames from the fuse box.

Two fire engines raced to the scene in The Street, Bishopsbourne, at just before 10pm last night.

Crews used a thermal imaging camera and found severe charring and minor fire damage to the electrical components within the fusebox cupboard.

The smoke had travelled up through the wall cavity and into the roof voids and the loft.

Firefighters cut away the bedroom wall above the consumer unit to check for fire spread and ventilated the property.

A spokesman said: "The man had been watching TV while his two children were sleeping when he heard the loud bang and saw a flash of flames.

"The smoke alarms in the property sounded, so the man did exactly the right thing and took the children out of their home to safety while he awaited the arrival of firefighters."