A warning has been given out to homeowners about the dangers of cooker fires.

Fire crews were called to a kitchen fire in Maple Close, Harwich, just after 4.20pm on Saturday.

The fire was quickly out and was extinguished by 4.40pm.

But Essex County Fire and Rescue Service’s divisional officer Neil Fenwick warned that kitchen fires could cause devastation to a home.

He said: “Our firefighters attend hundreds of fires a year which originate in the kitchen. Cooking is one of the major causes of fires in the home and even the smallest kitchen fire can cause devastation to your home and leave loved ones injured or even killed.

“If a fire does break out in your kitchen do not attempt to tackle it yourself. Just get yourself and your family out and call the fire service, we can deal with the fire safely and quickly.

“The best advice I can give is make sure that you fit, and regularly test, a smoke alarm. It is the single most important piece of safety equipment in any home. A smoke alarm provides vital warning that a fire has broken out waking sleeping people up and giving everyone time to get safely out.”

More fires start in the kitchen than any room in the house with cooking being a particularly prevalent cause of fire accounting for a third of all house fires in Essex.