A mother who came home to find smoke pouring from her house is warning people about the dangers of leaving dishwashers running.

The woman, who did not want to be named, had popped out for about 15 minutes to get a takeaway with her two children on Friday night.

But when she returned, a fire had taken hold in her kitchen in Franklin Drive, Grove Green.

Thanks to a quick-thinking neighbour using a garden hose, the blaze was out by the time firefighters arrived at about 9.30pm.

But she said every room of the detached house had still been ruined.

The fire is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault in her dishwasher.

She told the Kent Messenger: “I had heard about fires being caused by tumble-dryers, so I was always careful with that, but I had never thought anything of leaving my dishwasher on when I went out.

“I will never do that again. Even the upstairs rooms are ruined by the smoke. Everything smells of it and the floor is covered in soot.

“I’m just so glad it didn’t happen overnight while we were asleep. I don’t want to think about what could have happened then.

“I was just lucky no one was hurt and my two dogs weren’t in the house, otherwise they might have died and that would have devastated me.”

Firefighters used a ventilation fan to clear smoke and fumes and fitted new smoke alarms to replace the ones damaged by the blaze. They were at the scene for some 40 minutes.

The woman added: “A lot of people put their dishwashers and washing machines on overnight or while they are out because they don’t have time in the day or they want to run a longer economy setting, but I want to tell them to think of their safety.”