A woman escaped a fire that started in a Chigwell house this morning.

The blaze started on the ground floor of the home in Long Green at 8am.

Ambulances and fire engines from Hainault and Ilford were sent to the scene.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “About 50 per cent of the ground floor was damaged by fire. One woman left the property before we arrived.”

The London Ambulance Service said paramedics were sent but no one needed treatment.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.