Two men were taken to hospital after a fire in a flat in Dover early today.

And fire officers say they are lucky to be alive after one fell asleep while smoking, set fire to a sofa, and their smoke alarm did not have a battery in it.

Four other people, including two elderly women, had to be evacuated from neighbouring homes as fire-fighters tackled the blaze at Clarendon Street just after 1am.

Crews were on the scene within four minutes of receiving the call and a breathing apparatus team went into the heavily smoke-logged, first floor flat.

They used a thermal imaging camera to find the fire. The blaze was extinguished with a hosereel and a positive pressure ventilation fan was used to clear the three-storey property of smoke and fumes.

Dover Watch Manager Jamie Muddle said: “When we arrived, both men were outside and one was completely covered in black soot. We gave them oxygen therapy before they were taken to hospital by ambulance.”

The occupier of the flat was asleep in bed. It is believed that his friend, who had stayed overnight, had decided to have a last cigarette in the lounge before going to sleep.

The friend told crews that he woke up feeling very hot. He managed to find his way out of the room, woke his friend and both men got out of the flat to safety.

Mr Muddle added: “I can’t tell you how lucky these men were. The batteries had been removed from the smoke alarms, so had the man not woken when he did, it could have very easily ended in tragedy.

“There are two very important lessons to be learned from this fire, firstly never smoke in bed and secondly, always have working smoke alarms in your home to give you those precious extra minutes needed in the event of a fire.”

And they appealed to motorists in narrow streets to make sure that they leave sufficient room for fire appliances and other emergency vehicles to get through when they park their cars.