Fire prevention education has helped reduce the number of fires in the borough by 22 per cent in the past five years.

Last year, firefighters in the borough were called to 306 fires, about six a week, down from 395, or seven a week, in 2010/11.

Andy Cane, London Fire Brigade's borough commander for Richmond, said he believed the reducing was due to increased education given to residents about fire safety.

Mr Cane said: "The figures are a credit to firefighters, fire engineers, fire investigators, community safety specialists and many other staff who have made huge progress in educating people about the importance of fire safety.

"We have worked incredibly hard with our partners in the borough to work on reducing the number of fires we attend and will continue to target those most at risk to prevent deaths and serious injuries."

Statistics for the whole of London show that for the first time since records began in 1966, there were fewer than 20,000 fires in London last year.

Despite figures decreasing, London Fire Brigade is urging people to make sure they have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of their home and to test them regularly.

Other fire statistics showed that in the past five years, flood rescues, animal rescues, road traffic collisions and false alarms have all decreased.