A SMOKE alarm alerted a Longdon family at 5am on Tuesday, after a TV set caught fire in a child's bedroom.

Upton firefighters were on the scene four minutes after the alarm was raised by Gareth Reece, who had already got his wife and 11-year-old daughter, Catherine, out of the building, along with their pet labrador.

Sub officer Dave Walker said: "Catherine had fallen asleep with her TV set on and it short-circuited. Her bedroom door was closed, but fortunately the smoke alarm woke her parents."

Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went into the smoke-filled bungalow and turned off the electricity, before rescuing a hamster and some goldfish. A crew from Malvern brought in a ventilation fan to clear the smoke.