Vigilant neighbours prevented a major fire when they heard a smoke alarm go off at a house in Wantage.

Residents looked through the letterbox of their neighbours' flat in The Wharf, on March 13 and raised the alarm after seeing smoke.

Peter Cleary, incident commander, said the swift action of neighbours shortly after midday prevented the incident from turning into "a disaster".

He added that fire crews from Wantage and Didcot forced the front door to put out the fire in the cooker, which started when the owners were out.