CONCERNS a smoke detector did not work during a house blaze in Redditch has prompted an investigation into other properties.

Julie Curtis and her daughter, Parris, were asleep in their St George's home when the fire started.

They were only alerted to the blaze, which started outside, 15 minutes after neighbours had starting shouting and screaming for them to wake up.

Ms Curtis, of Temple Close, said: "I got up and looked outside the window to see these flames shooting up outside. I ran downstairs with my daughter to get out of the house."

Ms Curtis, who has been a tenant in the property owned by Shaftesbury Housing for four years, said there were two smoke detectors, one upstairs and one downstairs.

But after inspecting them, she noticed one was not wired up properly.

Area director for Shaftesbury Housing Mike Blount said: "As far as we were aware, these smoke alarms had been correctly installed and were working efficiently.

"As a precaution, we will now undertake an investigation of all our properties in Temple Close to ensure any smoke alarms installed by us are fully operational."