A KENT teenager accidentally started a fire at her home while smoking out of a window.

Natalie Purtill, 16, seized the opportunity for a cigarette while her mother was out taking her brother swimming but the curtains at their Strood home caught alight.

She managed to get out of the room and shut the door, which firefighters say prevented the fire from spreading throughout the house on Thursday evening.

But she fell unconscious on the stairs and firefighters had to break down the door to rescue her.

Her mum Mary said: "None of us smoke and we didn't even know she did – hopefully that will be the last cigarette she ever has."

* See the Medway Messenger (Monday, May 21) for the full story.