A sleeping pensioner whose West Norwood home was minutes away from bursting into flames was saved by her fiesty pet dog.

Ann Herschell, 72, was in bed at 11pm last Tuesday when the cord at the back of her fridge started to burn and her Woodcote Place home began to fill with thick black smoke.

But 10-year-old Sam the Yorkshire terrier continued to bark and head-butted Mrs Herschell until she woke up.

She dialled 999 before rushing outside. She said: “As soon as I told them what I saw they said to get out and take anyone in the house with me.

“If someone was to tell me a fridge could do that to my kitchen I would never have believed them.

“The fire brigade also said if I'd stayed in the house another 10 minutes I might never have made it out.”

Mrs Herschell thanked the fire service and ambulance crews who came to her aid and labelled them “heroes”.

Fire officers changed her smoke alarms following the incident and at 2am, installed them in her daughter’s home next door when they discovered she did not have one.

Mrs Herschell’s first fire alarm was fitted following a fire in the block of flats opposite her home last year.

Russell Langridge, of West Norwood fire station, said: “When we have a fire anywhere we knock on a few doors and talk to residents about fire safety.

“It just so happens that the fire that we put out this time, the woman had her smoke alarm fitted after another fire in the street.”

He added: “Without it she could have been in a very serious situation.”