South Bucks residents have been urged to check their smoke alarms after a fire started in a young girl’s bedroom this week.

A family living in Reynolds Road were woken up by their smoke alarm after a fire broke out in a bedside lamp at around 4.30am on Wednesday, April 5.

Smoke started to fill the room when a smoke alarm on the landing woke the girl, her sister, her mother and grandmother.

Watch commander, Neil Bressington, from Beaconsfield Fire Station, said the consequences “do not bear thinking about” if there had not been a working smoke alarm in the home.

The girl and her grandmother were taken to hospital suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke.

Firefighters removed the bedside light, which had started to melt and damage a bedside table, and fitted more smoke alarms in the house.

Mr Bressington advised people to fit at least one smoke alarm on every level of their home, and test them once a month.

Bucks Fire and Rescue has offered the following tips:

• Install at least one smoke alarm on every level of your home. The ideal position is on the ceiling, in the middle of a room or in a hallway or landing.

• Consider fitting alarms in other rooms where there are electrical appliances, and near sleeping areas.

• Don’t put alarms in or near kitchens and bathrooms where smoke or steam can set them off by accident.

• If any of your smoke alarms have a one-year battery, make sure it is changed every year. Only take the battery out when you need to replace it.

• Replace your smoke alarms every 10 years as the mechanism gradually deteriorates.

• Don’t forget to test your smoke alarms at least once a month.

To book a free home fire safety check and smoke alarm installation with Bucks Fire and Rescue call 01296 744477 or email cs@bucksfire.gov.uk.