A woman was rescued after a blaze broke out in her Southampton home early today.

Firefighters had to burst open the front door of the house in Shirley where they found the woman asleep in a bedroom.

Emergency services had been alerted by neighbours who heard the fire alarm at about 4.20am.

The woman resident in the home in Thornbury Avenue had left a pan of boiling pasta on the hob and fallen asleep.

Two fire engines from St Marys fire station attended the incident and put the blaze out before it caused much damage.

The woman was uninjured.