Firefighters have rescued two dogs from a home which caught fire this morning.

Crews from Halstead and Braintree were sent to the bungalow in Braintree Road, Gosfield, at 10.45am after a neighbour spotted smoke coming from an external air vent.

On arrival the firefighters discovered a blaze had broken out in the utility room after a head torch charger caught alight.

As the home’s occupants, who were not there at the time, had shut the door to the room the fire had been contained.

Firefighters had completely extinguished the blaze by 11.50am, before using a thermal imaging camera to check for hot spots and using a fan to clear the property of smoke.

They also checked that two dogs – a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and a Boxer – who were in another room were unharmed.

The utility room was completely smoke damaged, but damage to the rest of the bungalow was kept to a minimum.

The cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental.