A CHIMNEY fire and smoke alarm kept North Tawton fire service busy on two separate incidents over Christmas.

Officers were called to a chimney fire in North Tawton on Christmas day where they were detained for an hour.

They used chimney equipment to tackle the fire, which was soon brought under control.

On Boxing Day, officers were called to a property in Bow, where a smoke alarm had been activated.

Watch Commander Twiggy Lake said: 'The chimney fire was pretty straight forward.

'It was a fairly modern, detached house and it was dealt with very quickly.

'The smoke alarm in Bow had been activated through a fault.

'We were notified by the neighbours because the owners were away.

'We checked the premises and the alarm, but there is a lesson to be learned here.

'Everybody should have a smoke alarm — by fitting a smoke alarm, if someone is away it still warns the neighbours who can hear something is wrong and contact the emergency services.'