ESSEX firefighters braved a house fire in Basildon today to rescue three cats!

Crews were called to a tumble dryer on fire in a terraced house in Long Riding this morning (Monday, 1 February) and when arrived they reported the ground floor of the house was full of smoke.

The occupants were alerted to the fire by their working smoke alarms, so were able to get out of the house and call 999 immediately.

Crew Manager Daniel Tolley said: "When we got to the fire, the occupants were thankfully safely outside as they were alerted by their working smoke alarms. They told us they had three cats in the house, so our firefighters wore breathing apparatus and went into the house and got them out. We extinguished the fire quickly and stopped it spreading beyond the kitchen.

"The kitchen has been badly damaged, but it could have been a lot worse if the occupants were not home at the time and they did not have working smoke alarms."