Firefighters are highlighting the importance of having a working smoke alarm after a kitchen fire in Walderslade.

The occupants of a house in Hurst Hill were only alerted to the blaze, which broke out just before 9.30pm on Wednesday, by the smell of smoke and burning.

Fire is believed to have broke out after the resident left the grill unattended and returned to find her cooker alight.

The woman and her two teenage children dialled 999 and evacuated their house. Firefighters arrived minutes later and were able to limit damage.

Two fire crews from Medway cleared the kitchen of smoke, before removing the cooker and fitting two working smoke alarms.

Medway watch manager Nick Austen warned that the situation could have been far more serious.

He said: "Fortunately no one was hurt and only fairly minimal damage was caused.

"There are some very important safety messages to come out of this incident - fit smoke alarms. They really are invaluable in the event of fire, test them weekly and never remove the batteries."