A smoke alarm saved a house from serious damage.

Firefighters from Sheppey and Sittingbourne were called to a blaze in the kitchen of a house in Hillside Avenue, Rushenden, at 1pm on Wednesday.

The fire had started in the oven and a neighbour heard the alarm going off and phoned the fire brigade.

Firefighters had to isolate the gas and electric supplies to make the scene safe, although no-one was in at the time of the fire.

The cooker was completely destroyed and there was bad smoke damage to the kitchen, which was added to by the thick black smoke from plastic utensils on the cooker.

The rest of the mid-terrace house was also slightly damaged by smoke.
The fire crews were dealing with the fire for about 10 minutes.

Jim Ashby, crew manager at Sheppey fire station, said it was lucky they had a working fire alarm as it could have been a lot worse.