A man has escaped potential homelessness after he failed to turn his stove off before heading off to London for the night.

Fire crews were sent to a residence in Elaine Avenue in Strood at 7.45pm yesterday after receiving reports of smoke.

When entering the house they discovered that a cooking pot had been left on a hot stove for several hours causing thick smoke to spread through the building.

It emerged that the resident had set off for London as the contents of the pot started to burn.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "Whatever was in [the pot] was completely unidentifiable by the time we were there.

"He is very lucky. The only reason it wasn't worse was because he left the lid on the pot.

"This case just shows how important it is to ensure that all cooking appliances are fully switched-off before leaving them unattended."

Kent Fire and Rescue Service were at the scene for 35 minutes.