A POLICE and fire investigation is being carried out to discover the cause of a house fire that claimed the life of a woman in her 50s.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene after a fire in the ground floor lounge of a three-story house at Richmond Road, Ramsgate, on Wednesday night.

A man, also in his 50s, was led to safety by firefighters from the second floor of the building.

The alarm was raised at 11.45pm by a passer-by who spotted flames coming from the property.

Ramsgate fire station commander Paul Newman said: "It is sad to report that there was no smoke alarm fitted anywhere in the house. If there had been a detector, the fatal outcome of this fire could have been so different."

Fire crews from the Ramsgate and Thanet station at Broadstairs wore breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze.

Mr Newman added: "The fire was contained in the lounge where there was 20 per cent damage by flames. The rest of the room was damaged by smoke."