AN ALERT neighbour saved the lives of a couple next door when fire broke out in their flat.

The couple were fast asleep when their smoke alarm went off but the woman neighbour, in Valetta Way off The Esplanade, Rochester, heard it and called the fire and rescue service.

Strood fire station watch manager Mark Rosier said: “The couple owe their lives to their neighbour. Had it been much longer they would not have woken up at all.”

Firefighters were called to the blaze at around 6.30am on Sunday. C

Crews said the couple had been out nightclubbing and were cooking food after they returned home. It is believed they mistakenly left a pan on and went to sleep.

The neighbour who heard their smoke alarm went to investigate and saw the smoke in the flat when she looked through the letterbox.

Firefighters with breathing apparatus got into the flat through the back door, woke up the couple and got them out.