Firefighters were called to a blaze in Richmond after a fire broke out in a boiler cupboard yesterday.

The fire started at 4.15pm at a detached house in Cedar Heights while a woman was cooking in the kitchen.

It spread rapidly upstairs in the property close to Richmond Park.

Firefighters from Kingston attended the incident and crew manager Daniel Barratt describied the woman as "lucky".

He said: "Luckily she got out just in time, she was literally able to walk straight out.

"We had fire under control within five minutes."

He advised people to know where their utility shut-off points are in their homes.

He added: "In any fire where gas is involved it is one of our priorities to shut that source off as soon as possible."