A family-of-three had a lucky escape after a faulty iron caused a fire in the basement of their house today.

The family were asleep as the kitchen filled with smoke, and they were only alerted to the fire when the mother was awoken by the smell.

Firefighters from Rawdon and Otley fire stations arrived to tackle the flames and smoke with four breathing apparatus, one hose reel and a big-powered ventilation fan at the three-storey terrace in Oxford Villas, Guiseley, at 2.20am today.

Some clothes were ruined and both the kitchen and basement were damaged by the smoke.

Paul Holdsworth, watch manager at Rawdon fire station, warned it could have been a lot worse.

"There was no smoke detector and if they hadn't woken up there could quite easily have been a fatality," he said.

The crew returned to the address to fit the property with an alarm. This service is free. For more information contact your local fire station.