FIRE started in a kitchen when a cardboard box was put on top of a gas cooker.

Firefighters were called to Prospect Avenue, Darwen, on Tuesday afternoon, after the occupier was alerted by a smoke alarm.

Crew manager Dave Forth said the woman living there had taken a delivery, which she had placed on top of the hob, before putting the item away upstairs.

He said: “The box caught fire and it spread to the overhead extractor fan. Luckily, the smoke was all venting out, but the fire destroyed the fan.

“There was also smoke damage to the kitchen and the units.”

He said the woman and her son, who were in the semi-detatched property at the time, were both unharmed.