A man woken up early in the morning escaped from a blaze at his home in east London after a neighbour spotted smoke from his house.

A fire chief today praised the quick action of the woman living next door who raised the alarm when the fire broke out at a terraced house in Perth Road in Plaistow at 6am yesterday.

“She did a fantastic job,” said Plaistow fire-station watch manager Kevin Morris.

“The woman by chance saw smoke from her bathroom window and went out and banged on the man’s front-door.

“He was lucky to be woken up and managed to get down the stairs in time—he would have been trapped if she hadn’t woken him.”

The man got out unharmed as fire engulfed the kitchen on the ground-floor. Fire-crews managed to prevent flames spreading to the rest of the house. No-one was injured.

“It could have been worse,” the fire chief added. “It was lucky the woman happened to be up at that time and saw the smoke at the back of the house.”

There was no smoke detector fitted in the house. Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire, which damaged half the ground-floor. The kitchen was completely gutted.

Fire crews are returning to Perth Road Thursday or Friday calling on every household to check for smoke alarms—which they will fit free.