A family had a lucky escape after their pet dog alerted them to a fire in their home.

Firefighters were called to an address in Wadlands Road, Cliffe, at 12.30am on Sunday.

The owners of the house were woken by their dog and immediately realised something was wrong.

After discovering the blaze in an annex at the back of the house, the couple and their three young children were able get out of the house safely and call the emergency services.

Two crews attended the scene, Strood and a retained crew from Cliffe.

The firefighters managed to stop the flames spreading to the rest of the property.

The father of the family was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The occupants of the house next door were also evacuated as a precaution.

Strood crew manager Steve Davies said: "Cliffe were already on the scene by the time we arrived and they had managed to stop the fire from spreading.

"The annex was completely gutted but the damage to the main part of the house was minimal.

"We would advise anyone not to rely on their pets to wake them up and fit smoke alarms in their home.

"This property did not have any, and if the family hadn't woken when they did, the fire could have been a lot worse."

"We were unable to determine the cause of the fire last night. Our fire investigation crews have been called to the property this morning."