A block of flats had to be evacuated after a man fell asleep while cooking.

The incident happened in Chatham High Street at 6am today.

Around 10 people had to be evacuated from the building after a chip pan caught alight in a kitchen.

The man was woken by an alarm and got out of his home before crews arrived.

Firefighters had to force entry to the building after the owner locked himself out.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue said: “He was quite lucky the flats had a fire detection system in place which raised the alarm, otherwise it could have been a lot worse.”

The man suffered minor smoke inhalation.