A SMOKE alarm can save your life and every home in Bromsgrove should have one.

That's the message from town firefighters who are now offering free home safety checks for all residents.

The free checks have been gradually growing in popularity but Bromsgrove's firefighters are keen to encourage even more townsfolk to take them up.

They last about half an hour and involve a fire officer, or two, visiting your home and casting an experienced eye over potential problems.

The firefighters go through a list of hazards and ask a few simple questions, including cooking habits, heating systems and escape plans.

Then they have a look round your home for any obvious hazards, such as wires threaded under carpets, which can cause electrical fires or objects blocking escape routes.

Firefighters will then install smoke alarms if they are needed, to the minimum recommendation of one per floor.

The thoughtful officers make sure they use glue rather than nails to install the smoke alarms to avoid damaging pipes or wires.

Firefighter John Cooper said: "This quick service is open to everybody and free to everybody and it could help save lives."

Resident Larry Hanlon, of King George Close, Sidemoor, has had the free fire home safety check done on his property. "It's a super service. Very useful and I would recommend it to anyone," he said.

"I'm certainly going to take up their advice and it's great that we've got two free smoke alarms out of it."

The number one problem that the firefighters find is, perhaps predictably, lack of smoke alarms but the second most common mistake is overloaded plugs, which can cause electrical fires.

Firefighter Nick Dale said: "People often have multi-socket plugs but these can get overheated. The best ones are those that have one plug from the wall and then four sockets in a line."

He added: "The people we speak to may say, 'but I've had it like that for 20 years', and they don't have to take our advice.

"But we just tell them what is the recommended course of action and most people take us up on it."

Other problems can be people not knowing where the keys to windows are or leaving tea light candles to burn on the top of televisions.

The free home fire safety checks offer basic common sense advice but it is useful for residents to spend a bit of time and have potential hazards pointed out to them, meaning everyone can sleep easier knowing their home is as safe for their family as possible.