A mother told today of her family's narrow escape from a fire at their home.

The 50-year-old woman woke up after smelling smoke and ran downstairs to find flames in the kitchen of her home in Woodstock Road, Oxford.

She woke her 22-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter and they tried to tackle the fire with buckets of water. When it would not go out, they called the fire service. Crews faced a severe fire which had started to burn through the ceiling.

Officers called for backup and a total of 30 firefighters were brought in. There were no smoke alarms in the house. Luckily, no-one was hurt in the incident.

The woman, who declined to be named, said: "It is amazing how quickly it spread. I have no idea what caused it. I will never live without a smoke alarm again."

A fire service spokesman said: "The family had a fortunate escape. The fire had been smouldering for over an hour."