A dog died in a house fire after accidentally turning on a cooker. 

Firefighters were called to a kitchen fire in Norwich Walk, Basildon, at roughly 4.45pm yesterday. 

The dog had accidentally turned on the cooker's hob, and a washing basket placed on top of the hob caught alight. 

When fire crews arrived at the property they reported the fire was on the ground floor of the terraced house and the whole house was full of smoke.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus immediately entered the property and managed to quickly extinguish the fire.

The two occupants were given first aid by fire crews and then left in the care of the Ambulance Service as they had inhaled some smoke.

Sadly, the occupants dog was found dead in the property.

Station Manager, Ian Adams, said: "The fire is thought to have started accidentally when the dog jumped up at the hob knocking it on. There was a washing basket on top of the hob which slowly heated up and then started the fire.

"This isnt the first time we have seen this happen, so my advice would be to never store anything on top of your oven, and its safest to keep it turned off at the wall so no one could accidentally turn it on.

"Thankfully the property had working smoke alarms, so the owners were able to get out of the property safely, but sadly the dog was found deceased.

"Incident like this show how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your home - we fit them completely for free so there's no excuse for not having them. Anyone can book a visit, simply call us on 0300 303 0088 or you can  book online: www.essex-fire.gov.uk/book."