Two flats in Badric court in Battersea had to be evacuated after a bedroom caught fire this afternoon.

A small child and an adult woman had to be taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after the fire broke out at a two-floor maisonette on Yelverton Road.

Fire crews from Battersea and Wandsworth were called at 12.47pm and arrived to find flames billowing out of a second floor bedroom.

A spokesman from the green watch said: "All residents from the flat on fire and the one above it had evacuated by the time we got there.

"The fire was extinguished by crew wearing breathing apparatus."

The fire is believed to have started after candles or smoking apparatus had been left unattended.

Residents became aware something was wrong when the smoke alarm sounded.

The blaze destroyed an upstairs bedroom and part of a corridor and there was smoke damage to the bathroom.

The green watch spokesman said: "Luckily there was a working smoke alarm fitted in the flat which helped us get there early.

"Once we had extinguished the fire, we helped residents surrounding the flat to fit smoke alarms."