THE bedroom of a house in Tavistock's Whitchurch Road was completely gutted by fire during the early hours on Tuesday — only prompt action by the occupants prevented the blaze engulfing the entire first floor.

Two fire appliances from Tavistock tackled the fire, using breathing apparatus and two hose-reels.

Fire chief Chris Neale said the alarm was raised at 12.20am by the teenage occupant of the room, who woke up with the fire 'next to her face' — the brigade arrived within nine minutes.

'Luckily enough the grandmother realised it was quite serious and shut the door — that prevented the fire spreading. The actual damage was confined to the bedroom and slight damage to the roof — they really were very lucky,' said Mr Neale.

'That ordinary panelled door took the full blast of a very serious fire and kept it back — it was completely charred on the inside.

'If you'd have touched it it would've fallen to pieces.'

Firefighters took around half an hour to get the fire under control and did not leave until 5am.

Mr Neale said a candle on a bedside table was thought to be the cause of the blaze — he warned people to make absolutely sure candles are extinguished properly after use.