A 14-year-old girl burned her hands and had to be rushed to hospital after her bed caught fire when she fell asleep with candles burning.

The girl and her 29-year-old mother, from New Addington, were helped from their burning home at 2am by a neighbour after their smoke alarms went off.

The mother and daughter were taken to hospital by London Ambulance suffering from smoke inhalation, the teenager had burned hands.

Robert Scrivener, White Watch Manager from New Addington Fire station said the situation was just five minutes away from turning deadly.

He said: "There was a small fire in the upstairs bedroom.

"The cause was some tea light candles the daughter had put on her bedside cabinet. She left them on and they burned down, burned through the table that they were on, and set fire to some teddy bears on the floor.

"She woke up and the side of her bed was on fire. The smoke alarms went off and the next door neighbour came and helped.

"She was also suffering from smoke inhalation.

"It was five minutes from disaster. This just shows you the importance of smoke alarms.

"We want to warn people that if you are using tea light candles, you must put them on a plate. Before you go to bed make sure you turn off any electricals or blow out any candles."

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