CHRISTMAS revellers are being urged not to cook food when they have been drinking after a Worcester woman fell asleep while cooking chips.

Alec Mackie, spokesman for Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade, said the woman had had a "very lucky escape" thanks to her smoke detector, which woke her neighbours.

Firefighters from Worcester's retained crew were forced to smash the woman's front door open after extensive efforts to wake her failed.

Drinking

Mr Mackie said the woman, who has not been identified, had been drinking before she returned to her flat and dropped off to sleep after putting chips into the oven to cook with other "bits and bobs" on the stove.

"She got home after having too many drinks at an office party and started to cook food," he said.

"But she then fell into a very deep sleep. Fortunately for her, and other people living in the block, her neighbours were woken by her smoke alarm so called the fire brigade."

He added that when firefighters arrived, they tried unsuccessfully to wake the woman who slept through all the "banging and shouting" in the early hours on Tuesday.

"She was zonked," he added.

"The order was given to smash the door down, which actually woke the woman up. There was smoke everywhere, which the firecrews dealt with, but the woman had a very lucky escape.

"We could easily have been dealing with something a lot more serious. It wasn't just a close escape for her, it was a close escape for those living in the block."

Mr Mackie stressed the importance of smoke alarms and urged those without one in their home to buy one as soon as possible.

But he added people who do have them should make sure they are in full working order and appealed to people not to start cooking if they had been drinking.

"It was only because the neighbours heard the smoke alarm that a very nasty incident was avoided," he said.

"Don't start to cook snacks if you have been drinking. This incident is a classic tale for this time of year and others may not be so lucky."