A MOTHER and her four-year-old son had a lucky escape when a fire in a cooker caused it to explode in their kitchen.

The 40-year-old woman and the boy ran from the house in Town Hill, West Malling, after the blaze broke out at about 9.30pm on Saturday.

They suffered smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene by paramedics but did not need to go to hospital.

Retained firefighters from Larkfield and Halling attended the incident which began when the woman accidentally switched on the grill, thinking it was the oven, and left the grill door closed.

Fat and residue inside the grill caught light and the heat shattered the glass of the oven.

The explosion alerted the woman who took her son out of the house and dialled 999. She then returned to the house to shut the back door.

Fire officers who went into the house wearing breathing apparatus rescued the family cat and put the fire out within 10 minutes. Damage was confined to the kitchen.

Leading firefighter Brian Millbank, of Red Watch (retained) at Larkfield Fire Station, said the mother and son had been at greater risk because they did not have smoke alarms.

He said: "It was bad enough for the occupiers, but smoke alarms would have given her a bit more of a warning.

"It gives you that much more time to gather what you will and get out of the building. We would also say don’t re-enter the property."