A woman was counting the cost today after she switched on an extractor fan in her bathroom - only for the machine to catch fire.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze in Western Approaches, Eastwood, at 5.10pm yesterday.

Officers used breathing equipment to fight through the heavy smoke and put out the flames but luckily no one was injured in the blaze.

An Essex fire service spokesman said: "The woman turned on the extractor fan in her bathroom and it caught light due to an electrical fault.

"Officers were at the scene for about 45 minutes and there were a lot of flames and a lot of thick smoke but luckily no one was hurt."

There was some smoke damage to the house.

Published Tuesday, March 19, 2002