A MOTHER and her three young children escaped death by about 30 seconds when fire broke out in their home in Dover last night.

The woman and her children, aged four, three and one, were asleep in their first-floor flat at Knights Court, Bunkers Hill Avenue, when a tumble drier in the kitchen caught light.

Smoke quickly filled the flat and the woman woke up, coughing and unable to breathe. She grabbed the children and fled from the flat, banging on her neighbours’ doors to alert them to the danger. They all managed to get out safely.

Dover fire crews were called and put the blaze out. Sub officer Paul Flaherty said he believed that if the woman had not woken up when she did, they would all have died.

“It was a very close-run thing. Another 30 seconds, and I think we would have been dealing with four tragic deaths," he added.