A SMOKE alarm saved the life of a mother and two children who escaped from their burning home.

The blaze broke out at the flat on the corner of Lower Chase Road and Pound Bank Road, Malvern, at about 7.20am on Saturday (May 21).

Leading firefighter Martin Gray said the woman had been woken by the alarm, grabbed her two small children and escaped.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the flat to deal with the blaze.

It was believed to have started in the lounge, but the cause has not been disclosed.

LF Gray said: "Without the smoke alarm, this could have been a much more serious situation."

The family have been rehoused by the Elgar Housing Association, which owns the flat.

Richard Grounds, of Elgar, said it was the association's policy to have mains-operated smoke alarms in all its properties.

"It's obviously very pleasing that it did its job on this occasion," he said.

Firefighters were called to a fire at a ground-floor flat in Elgar Avenue, Malvern, at about 6.40pm the same day.

As the flat was unoccupied, they had to break down the front door to get in.

They extinguished the fire, which had started in the kitchen. The rest of the flat suffered smoke damage.