A TILBURY family had a lucky escape thanks to a smoke alarm going off.

Firefighters were called to a home in Ottawa Road, Tilbury just after 3.30pm on Saturday (14 December) after the resident heard their smoke alarms going off.

On arrival, crews from Orsett and Grays fire stations reported that an oven in the kitchen was on fire and worked to extinguish it by 4.19pm.

The cause of the fire was accidental after cooking was left unattended in the oven.

The kitchen suffered smoke damage.

The Watch Commander at Orsett Fire Station said:: "Always double check ovens are turned off, Christmas is a large distraction. In the build up to Christmas, we're all preoccupied with the festivities and in this instance the home owner was lucky that the fire didn't spread to the rest of the house and was confined to the cooker."