Sharp eyed neighbours saved a house from being destroyed by fire in Ray Mill Road East, Maidenhead.

They called the fire service at midnight last night after spotting that a recently parked van had caught fire on the drive of a house. The blaze had spread to three other vehicles and had reached the house itself.

Two fire engines raced to the scene and the teams used hose reels and breathing apparatus after waking and evacuating the shocked occupants of the house who were looked after by neighbours.

The fire team managed to save the house which was only lightly damaged around the fascia and guttering and stop three of the four vehicles on the drive from being completely destroyed.

Firefighters were on the scene until 3am this morning and a spokesman said: "If the neighbours had not called us it could have been disastrous as the occupants of the house had gone to bed and did not know a fire had started. They were clearly shaken and distressed and neighbours rallied round to help."