A man rescued a mother and her three children from their burning Oxford home.

Graham Ridewood, 38, was in bed at his home in Leafield Road, Cowley, when he heard his neighbour screaming for help at 11.30pm on April 6.

Mr and Mrs Ridewood He ran outside and discovered Michelle Brown, 25, was trapped in her bedroom upstairs, along with her three children -- Jacob, five, Aleaha, four, and Reece, two.

Although smoke detectors were fitted in the house, Miss Brown had removed the batteries because they kept going off.

The front door was locked and she was shouting for help while smoke poured out of the kitchen.

Carpenter Mr Ridewood, who lives in a terraced house next door with his wife Linda, 40, and two children, tried to calm his neighbour down while he looked for a way into the building.

When Jacob escaped through the back door, Mr Ridewood ran inside and carried the remaining children out while he led their mother to safety.

He said: "Michelle was screaming and I was getting worried. There was a lot of smoke. I saw Jacob coming up the side of the house and realised he had managed to get out of the house through the back door.

"The others were still upstairs so I went round the back and got them out. When I went past the kitchen I saw a tray on fire on the cooker. I used a damp tea-towel to put it out."

Afterwards, Miss Brown warned other householders to make sure their fire alarms were working properly.

She said: "I had smoke alarms but took the batteries out because they kept going off. This just shows why people shouldn't take out the batteries.

"I do want to thank my neighbours Linda and Graham for what they did and the firefighters for their help."

The family were treated for smoke inhalation but were otherwise uninjured.

Mrs Ridewood added: "We called the fire brigade and they arrived quickly but my husband had already put the fire out before they got here. It all happened very quickly."

The fire was contained in the kitchen and the rest of the house was not damaged so the family have been allowed to return home.

Station Officer Matthew Carlile, who attended the incident, said: "The neighbours' prompt action assisted in the rescue of the family. Had the house been fitted with working smoke detectors the fire would have been detected at an earlier stage, preventing damage to the house and given an earlier warning to the family."

Firefighters will be visiting the area to check if householders have working smoke detectors. For advice, call the fire safety line on 0800 0325999.