UNATTENDED cooking caused a blaze at a Kinson home in the early hours of this morning.

Fire crews from Redhill Park and Westbourne were called to a property in South Kinson Drive at around 1.45am after reports of a fire.

On their arrival, firefighters discovered a fire in the kitchen of a first floor flat, and were able to quickly extinguish it.

However, "considerable" damage was caused to the room itself, while the hallway outside was also affected by smoke.

Although there were no casualties involved in the incident, residents were supported by the Red Cross.

A spokesperson for the Dorset Fire and Rescue Service said: "We would like to take this opportunity to remind people of the dangers associated with unattended cooking and encourage people to switch off any heat sources if they need to leave the kitchen for any length of time.

"Firefighters will be returning to the area within the next couple of days to give local residents some home fire safety advice."