A LOG burner caused a chimney fire at a house in Fulbrook in the early hours of this morning.

Fire crews were called the house near Burford at about 1am after owners noticed strange noises and high temperatures in the chimney stack.

Incident commander crew manager Nathan Crockford said: "On our arrival, it was clear that something was amiss, as strong pulses of smoke were still coming out of the chimney. 

"Detailed inspections with a thermal imaging camera was taken and we called out our specialist rescue team from Kidlington Fire Station to use their extendible 'snake eye' camera, allowing us to precisely locate the fire and gather accurate temperature readings. 

"To reach the fire it would have been necessary to remove large areas of block work, potentially causing more damage than the fire itself, so in discussion with the homeowners and a fire officer, we decided to monitor the situation and wait."

Firefighters returned to the house three times this morning before declaring that the fire had been extinguished.