Kent firefighters now carry 'escape hoods' to protect members of the public from toxic smoke.

The filtered hoods, which can be worn by conscious or unconscious people, provide up to 15 minutes of fume protection.

The kit, which has become a reality following extensive research between the Kent and London fire services, blocks out four of the main fire gases - carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride and acrolein.

Firefighters will be able to offer people a hood to wear while they are being rescued and will be used to protect those who aren’t able to escape easily, such as the elderly or wheelchair users.

All of Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s whole-time and on-call fire engines started carrying smoke hoods at the start of this week.

Phil Bailey, KFRS tactics manager, says the hood will become an integral aid in rescues.

He said: "The hood enables the public to be walked through a smoke-filled environment. It filters out the toxic gases within smoke so it allows them to walk through the atmosphere without affecting their airwaves.

"This gives us another tool to enable us to keep the public safe.

"We do have options of rescuing people externally via ladders but this allows us to walk people through the buildings which previously we couldn't do, so this gives us another option.

"Even in high rise buildings, 15 minutes is long enough to get people out."