A woman and a baby are in temporary accommodation after a blaze ripped through their Ashford flat.

The clockwise carriageway on the town ring road was blocked for more than two hours on Saturday as two crews from Ashford struggled to tackle the fire.

The intense blaze broke out at 3.15pm in a new-build flat in Sturges Road. Crews were sent when a woman with a young baby was woken by her smoke alarm.

She called 999 while still trapped in her home, but by the time officers arrived she had escaped.

Watch manager Kevin Surridge said: "Having a toddler, she had just gone for a lie-down.

"It was a very, very lucky escape. If she hadn't got out she wouldn't have survived."

Police, ambulance and Red Cross crews were called to the scene of the blaze, which is believed to have started in the flat's kitchen.

Nearby residents were evacuated and ring road traffic was diverted as fire engines blocked the road.

Crews said an electrical fault may have been to blame for the fire, which is not being treated as suspicious.