THE lives of young couple and their three-year-old daughter were saved by their smoke alarm after an unattended festive candle set fire to their TV while they were sound asleep. The noise from the alarm woke Marc and Paula Spalding, of Westerham Road, Sittingbourne, who were able to get safely out their mid-terraced home with daughter Gemma.

Mrs Spalding, 29, said: "We had put up candles around the living room to get in the Christmas mood. We went to bed at around 11pm but I then awoke at 2am because I could hear the smoke alarm going off. A chunky candle on top of the TV had burnt right down and set fire to the set. I thought I had put it out but it must have been still smouldering. It had a holly wreath at the bottom. The house is severely smoke-damaged but at least we are all still alive for Christmas."

Mr Spalding, 30, smothered the fire with a tea-towel before the arrival of Sittingbourne firefighters. He needed to have oxygen at the scene because he inhaled smoke but he did not need hospital treatment.

The couple only moved into the house in March and say they bought several smoke alarms but had not found the time to put them up so they were still in their boxes in a spare room. The one that did go off was on the second floor of their three-storey home - and it had already been placed there by the previous owner.

Mrs Spalding added: "Fortunately we changed the battery recently. I am convinced that if the alarm had not gone off then we could all have died. The other alarms will be going up around the house as soon as possible."

Leading firefighter Steve Adams from Sittingbourne fire station said: "The incident has come as a timely reminder for everyone to have smoke alarms - and to regularly check the batteries. Candles should be in proper holders and great care needs to be taken. Christmas tinsel should also not be placed on top of TVs because they can also be a fire hazard. And don't take the battery out of an alarm to put in a child's new toy on Christmas Day."