A 38-YEAR-OLD woman is lucky to be alive after a chip pan fire, say firefighters.

The alarm was raised at 1am on Monday morning after a blaze started in the kitchen of a home on Marshall Avenue in Dallam.

Firefighters had to rescue the woman from a first floor bedroom after she suffered from smoke inhalation. She is now recovering.

And fire service officials say the blaze shows how important it is to have a properly fitted smoke alarm after they found the one in the house had no battery in it.

A spokesman said: "She was lucky to have survived this serious incident.

"A death was narrowly averted due to a neighbour smelling smoke and raising the alarm via Warrington Borough Council's 24-Hour Emergency Line.

"However, this caused a delay in the attendance of the fire service. Members of the public should be reminded to always use the 999 system if an emergency occurs."

Firefighters also issued a warning to homeowners not to leave cookers and chip pans unattended and to make sure smoke alarms are regularly tested.

Free Home Fire Safety Visits and smoke detectors are freely available from Cheshire Fire Service on 0800 389 0053.