A TEENAGER told how she feels lucky to be alive after a blaze at her Southampton home.

Deanna Tubby said she had called for help after finding flames blocking her only exit.

The 19-year-old had been watching television when smoke began filling her ground floor studio flat in Defender Road, Woolston.

She dialled 999 but the battery on her mobile phone ran out.

Not knowing if help was on its way and unable to climb through the windows she ran backwards and forwards from her kitchen with a mug of water in a bid to put out the blaze.

Deanna eventually managed to escape moments before emergency services arrived.

She said: “I don't know how it started. I was quite scared because there's no other way of getting out.

“I tried to put it out. I was running back and forth with a small cup.

“The fire was right next to my boiler. I thought it might explode if it got any worse.”

Deanna was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene while fire crews checked her home.

The fire is believed to have started when a lit cigarette was put in bin bags next to the front door.