SEVEN people had a lucky escape from a house fire on Monday night after flames were spotted around a first-floor bedroom door.

Firemen said the family living at the house in Bulan Road, Headington, could have died because there were no working smoke alarms in the building.

A householder told the fire crews batteries in the detectors had not been replaced.

Fire crews were called to the blaze shortly after 11.30pm and wore breathing apparatus to enter the building.

No one suffered any injuries and the fire was quickly put out with high-pressure hoses.

Group manager Rob MacDougall, from Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service, urged people to check their smoke alarms.

He said: “Had it not been for the speedy actions of a resident who spotted the smoke and dialled 999, this incident would almost certainly have ended in tragedy. This jut goes to show the importance of checking smoke alarms regularly. One day it could save your life.”

In September, firefighters rescued an elderly man from a block of flats in Exeter Court, Didcot, after his fire alarm failed to go off and teenagers spotted smoke billowing from his windows.