An elderly couple had a lucky escape when they managed to flee their blazing home uninjured after they were alerted to the flames by their smoke alarms.

The husband had accidentally turned on the chip pan when he thought he was turning it off and then left the kitchen.

Moments later the room went up in flames but luckily the pair had four smoke alarms all of which went off.

The couple managed to get out of the house in Sporhams, Basildon, and called the fire service at 8.53pm yesterday (Wednesday).

It took firefighters about 20 minutes to put out the blaze and help with some of the tidying up.

Station officer Mark Samuels said: "The kitchen was completely destroyed and the rest of the house had some smoke damage.

"But the important point of this story is that this couple had smoke alarms and they managed to get out and call us.

"They did not breathe in any smoke and obviously that is very important because the older you are the more damaging smoke inhalation is.

"I would ask anyone who forgot to put a smoke alarm on their Christmas list to put it on their birthday list or their Father's or Mother's Day lists.

"They make cheap presents and show you care. They save lives."

By Isabel Gompertz

Reporter's e-mail: isabel.gompertz@notes.newsquest.co.uk

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