A slipper that had got wedged in a nursing home's commercial tumble dryer caused a basement to fill with smoke.

Firefighters in Dover were called at 2.30am today to reports of a possible fire at Alexander House in Folkestone Road, Dover.

After using a thermal imaging camera, the crew was able to work out where the smoke was coming from.

They then isolated the tumble dryer from the electrics.

There was no fire and care workers had followed a "stay put" policy, which meant that all 46 residents had not been evacuated.

Watch manager Adrian Hawkins said: "We managed to get it out.

"A lot of care homes tend to have the stay put policy as it is safer in the earlier stages depending on where the fire is and if they can isolate it.

"The smoke didn't get further than the basement."

An engineer is going to be called to fix the appliance, Mr Hawkins said.

The crew left the scene just after 3am.