FIREFIGHTERS were called to a house in Great Cheverell on Sunday evening after a heating boiler caught fire and set the kitchen ablaze.

Two women who rent The Stables in Church Road were alerted by smoke alarms and damage was kept to a minimum.

Freddie Coupe, owner of The

Stables, said: "The boiler, of course, is destroyed and the washing machine

beside it has melted but other than that and a bit of smoke damage, there is nothing much to show for it.

"One of the tenants was just coming in and heard the alarms go off. She phoned the fire brigade and they were here in a very short time.

"The boiler is about 15 or 20 years old, but it has not been causing any problems and we are baffled as to why it caught fire. We are just grateful it is not any worse and, thankfully, no-one was hurt."