Fire crews rushed to battle a kitchen fire at a home.

It happened at the property in Jermayns, Basildon at 10.23am yesterday morning.

The firefighters managed to contain the fire within the three-storey townhouse, after a smoke alarm alerted a neighbour.

Crews reported on arrival that a fire was burning within the kitchen, positioned on the ground floor of the property. No-one was home at the time of the fire.

Firefighters extinguished the fire by 10.52am and managed to ensure that damage was restricted to the worktop after using positive pressure ventilation fans to clear the excess smoke.

Ricky Jones, Crew Manager at Basildon Fire Station, said: "We believe this fire was caused accidentally after a chip pan was inadvertently left on, igniting materials left on the worktop beside it.

"Our advice is to always double-check that you've turned off your oven, hob or chip pan once you've finished using it - and you should always keep things like tea towels, kitchen roll and clothing well away at all times.

"This incident also demonstrates once again how important smoke alarms are. If the smoke alarm in this property hadn't gone off, the fire would easily have spread quickly before anyone was even aware."

Firefighters also fitted two other smoke alarms - on the second and third floors of the home - before leaving the scene.