BATH towels which had been left against a light bulb in a linen cupboard almost burnt down their owners' house.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the home in Chiselhampton near Wheatley at 6.15pm last night.

Firefighters arrived within minutes and were faced with smoke coming out of the first floor of the house.

They got ride of the smoke and eventually discovered its source: smouldering bath towels left on a shelf next to a light bulb in the linen cupboard.

The homeowner had spotted the smoke herself and called 999.

Fire service incident commander Rob Davis said: "It was very fortunate that this incident did not happen in the middle of the night: the three-storey property only had smoke alarms fitted on the ground floor, and with the fire being on the first floor the fire would have gone undetected, and could have been a very different outcome.

"I cannot express how important it is to ensure you have a working smoke alarm on every level of your property and to test them regularly, this is the best way to ensure you and your family have early warning to be able to evacuate safely."