A faulty fridge is believed to have sparked a blaze a Ditton home.

The appliance was found alight in the utility room of a house in London Road, at around 11.45am on Sunday.

Firefighters wore breathing apparatus to enter the property and used a ventilation fan to clear the smoke.

The crews, from Maidstone and Larkfield, removed the fridge from the house and put out the flames.

The damage was contained to the utility room.

Firefighters at the scene discovered the property was not fitted with any working smoke detectors.

Larkfield watch manager, Joe Luque, said: "Fortunately, this fire was contained and brought under control quickly, but worryingly there were no smoke alarms fitted in the house, so if this fire had started in the middle of the night, the occupants would have had no early warning and the fire could have had life-threatening consequences."

After making sure the site was safe, the team installed fire alarms on each floor and gave the occupants safety advice.

For further fire safety tips contact Kent Fire Rescue Service on 0800 923 7000 or visit www.3breaths.info.