A mum and her two young children fled to safety after a discarded cigarette caused a house fire in Gillingham in the early hours of this morning.

The woman heard a bottle smash in the basement kitchen of her home in Randolph Road and then discovered a plastic bin had melted and clothes drying on a radiator alight.

When firefighters arrived the young family were outside in their nightclothes.

The youngsters - a boy and a girl believed to be under the age of 10 - were taken to a friend's home nearby.

The crew used a fan to clear the smoke from the room and stopped it from spreading to other floors.

Watch manager Anthony Fox, said: "It could have been a lot worse if they had all been asleep at the time.

"There is a lesson to be learnt not to put cigarettes or an ashtray in a bin unattended. It is better to leave the ashtray out in case the cigarette is till burning.

"Luckily their smoke alarm was working."

Two crews from Medway spent about an hour clearing the smoke-logged room.