Two people from Mistley escaped a fire in their home last night thanks to working smoke alarms.

After hearing the alarm, the occupants made their way out of their home, which was rapidly filling with smoke.

When fire crews arrived at 10.22pm, they found the blaze was in the utility room next to the kitchen, and firefighters managed to quickly extinguish the flames and stop it spreading to the rest of the house.

The utility room was damaged by fire and the rest of the house suffered some smoke damage.

Ryan Ainger, sub officer, said: “Incidents like this show how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your home.

“These occupants were alerted by their smoke alarm and so had time to get out. They did suffer some smoke inhalation and were cared for by the ambulance service, but without a smoke alarm it could have been a lot worse.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service will fit smoke alarms free of charge, call 0300 303 0088 or click here to book an appointment.