AN 18-year-old Lydney girl says she has invested in smoke alarms at her family home after waking up to thick smoke beginning to fill her bedroom.

Cherry Barber-Mansell says her Naas Lane home didn't have any alarms as her family, who were away at the time of the fire, never "got around" to installing them.

She said: "I know that sounds silly but it's an old house so there's always something to fix, and that was something we just never got around to doing, and we just got used to not having them...it's just one of those things. We have them now though, thankfully." Cherry and her spaniel, Pogo, were asleep when the fire broke out in the kitchen after a suspected gas leak at 4.15am on August 15.

She said: "I didn't even see any flames or hear an explosion. I woke up to thick smoke beginning to fill the bedroom so I covered my face and tried to go downstairs to get out, but got to the second step down and literally couldn't see an inch in front of me, and started coughing.

"I called Pogo into the bedroom, shut the door and opened a window where I stuck my head out to call 999. When the fire crews reached me I was treated for smoke inhalation – it could have been a lot worse.

"The house is mostly smoke damaged – and we need a new kitchen – as far as I know the insurance people have been clearing the damage. Luckily our neighbours weren't affected."

Cherry is now preparing to go to university next month and says she can't thank the fire crew enough who saved her, as well as her nan, Pat, who has helped her since the accident.

She added: "The day the fire happened was the same day I got my A Level results, so it has really made me think that I should make the most of my time at university and from now on."

Chief fire officer, Stewart Edgar added: "The important message is if the property had been fitted with a smoke alarm there's no doubt we could have been alerted sooner.

"A total of 211 people across the country died in fires in the home last year, and more than 70 per cent of these weren't alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm, so it's vital to have them installed and to test them regularly."

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service carry out a free home safety check and fit them free-of- charge – call 0800 180 41 40 for details.