A mum has warned of the dangers of leaving electrical chargers turned on after a blaze gutted her son’s bedroom.

Leanne Sullivan, 36, and her two daughters were left homeless on New Year’s Day after an electrical fault set fire to her son Jaydon’s bed, in Purple Emperor Grove, Iwade.

Luckily schoolboy Jaydon , 17, who goes to Borden Grammar in Sittingbourne, was in Paris at the time.

But his mum and sisters Chyna , 14, and Kyra , eight, had to sleep in a neighbour’s house because of the fire and smoke damage.

Leanne, who works in London, said: “I was just settling down for a rest at 4pm when Chyna yelled that Jaydon’s bedroom was on fire. Suddenly the fire alarms went off, too.

“As soon as I smelled burning and the toxic fumes I realised it was too risky to open the bedroom door, so I got my two daughters out, rescued our two eight-month-old kittens Millie and Marley, which were hiding in the kitchen, and we all waited in the road for the firemen.

“Luckily the company where I work is very safety-minded both at work and in the home and gives us regular safety advice. I just followed that.”

“Luckily no one was hurt. And possessions can always be replaced although, unfortunately, we weren’t insured for contents” - mum Leanne Sullivan

Neighbours Kim and Andy Shilling sped round with a fire extinguisher and turned off the electric but couldn’t get into the bedroom because of the smoke.

Two fire engines from Sittingbourne and Sheppey attended the blaze.

A spokesman for Sittingbourne firefighters said: “The occupants did everything by the book.

"They closed the door of the room, evacuated the building and then waited outside for the fire crews.”

Two fire-fighters wearing breathing apparatus went into the £200,000 semi-detached house owned by the AmicusHorizon building association and put out the fire in the back upstairs bedroom using a water hose.

They used an industrial fan to rid the house of smoke. A thermal imaging camera traced the cause of the fire to a melted USB charging cable.

Leanne, who moved into the house just over a year ago, said: “The firemen told me that all chargers should be turned off when not in use and that only proper chargers should be used. I hope this will act as a warning to others.

“We lost a new bed, chest of drawers, desk, book shelves and all of Jaydon’s books. But we managed to save his notes. He is due to see his mock A-levels soon.

“Luckily no one was hurt. And possessions can always be replaced although, unfortunately, we weren’t insured for contents.”

However, she praised her neighbours, saying: “Everyone in the village has been fantastic and offered to help. I don’t know what we would have done without them.”