A family's pets have been rescued from a Gillingham home after sunlight on a vanity mirror caused clothing to catch light.

Firefighters were called by neighbours who heard a smoke alarm and saw smoke pouring from a house in Oxford Road.

The blaze broke out in a bedroom on Monday afternoon.

It is believed sun shining through a glass perfume bottle left on a windowsill bounced off the mirror and started smoking.

Flames quickly took hold and the fire heavily damaged the upstairs bedroom, soon after 2pm.

A fire crew from Medway station used breathing apparatus to get into the house and rescued a cat and dog. Neither animal suffered any injury.

The fire was extinguished within half-an-hour, but firefighters were at the scene for about an hour-and-a-half.

Crew Manager Nina Batsford said: "There was no-one home at the time and it appears that sun through the window had been reflected onto clothing and caused a fire.

"Fortunately the householders had a working smoke alarm and this alerted neighbours so we were called at an early stage and were able to prevent major damage.

"The pets were absolutely fine, but clearly this could have been a lot worse and we think it's a good reminder to people to think carefully about where they place mirrors in their homes."