ALERT neighbours quickly called the fire brigade when they heard a smoke alarm from an unoccupied house going off.

The alarm, at the home in Running Fox Lane, Singleton, Ashford, was triggered off by a smoke building up from an unattended pan on a stove.

Firefighters were called to the incident at about 2.30pm on Sunday.

An Ashford fire station spokesman said: “The kitchen was smoke-logged but thankfully there was no damage done.

“It was the smoke alarm that saved the day and it shows how vital they are. The next door neighbours heard it, could then smell smoke from the letterbox and called us.”

Firefighters also warned about unattended cooking as the occupants of the house were out while the pan was still on.

The spokesman added: “We couldn’t say why they went out, they could have been called out on an emergency and forgot to turn to stove off.

“But we would obviously stress that cooking should never be left unattended.”