A woman has been treated by paramedics after escaping a kitchen fire this evening.

The victim, aged in her 50s, suffered the effects of breathing in smoke after fleeing the flat in Westgate Bay Avenue, Westgate-on-Sea.

Fire crews were called at 4.50pm, and spent 40 minutes tackling the flames using a hose reel jet, before clearing the smoke and fumes with a fan.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known.