A YOUNG woman is lucky to be alive after being rescued from a house fire by her brave neighbour and a mysterious passer-by.

Erin Brown, 23, was asleep in her first-floor bedroom in Glencoe Road, Chatham, when a fire started downstairs.

She had removed the battery from her smoke alarm a few days earlier, so slept through the fire that was raging in her lounge and became trapped in her bedroom.

Neighbour, Howard Horn, saw the smoke billowing out the house at around 6pm on Monday and rushed to get a ladder.

With the help of an unknown passer-by, he managed to help Miss Brown, who was suffering from smoke inhalation, climb out of a small window and down the ladder to safety.

The father-of-four has now been nominated for his bravery by the fire crew which came to help in the rescue.

The modest 42-year-old said: "I don’t think my actions were particularly heroic, they were what anyone would do. I just happened to be a neighbour with a ladder in the right place at the right time.

"I brought her into my house and with the help of my partner helped to calm her down before the emergency services arrived and took her to hospital.

"Another man helped as well but we don’t know who he was."

An officer said: “We were all impressed by his heroism and have nominated him for a bravery award."

The fire was caused after Miss Brown burnt some paper and thinking it was extinguished, went to sleep early because she felt unwell.

In a short while the waste bin, carpet and floorboards had caught alight.

When Miss Brown awoke, she was trapped in her bedroom. She had inhaled some smoke but if it hadn’t been for Mr Howard, a fire spokesman said, the consequences could have been much worse.