About 150 students were forced to evacuate flats in Linton Road, Oxford, after a kitchen fire broke out.

Forty firefighters from Oxford, Woodstock, Kidlington and Eynsham attended the incident at Wolfson College shortly after 7.30am yesterday.

Initial reports suggested the blaze had spread to a communal area connecting six flats and that one person was missing.

Firefighters searched the block, although it was later confirmed the missing person had been sleeping elsewhere.

Incident commander Nigel Wilson said ten firefighters entered the building through a third floor window.

He said: "We searched every room in the whole block until we were satisfied no one was there.

"The actual seat of the fire and the communal area were very badly damaged - the flats only suffered smoke and heat damage."

Mr Wilson said the smoke alarm in the kitchen and the fire doors linking each of the six flats had been crucial in saving lives.

He said: "The biggest godsend was the smoke alarm. The fire doors also did a fantastic job.

"From our point of view, it was a successful incident because no-one suffered any injuries."

Fire investigators were trying to ascertain the cause of the kitchen fire yesterday afternoon.