A family was full of praise for firefighters who put out a fire in their chimney, tidied up after themselves and joked with their three children before departing.

The Milnes family were startled when a roar 'like a steam train arriving' came from their open fire as they were watching TV in their home in London Road, Dereham.

Father Steve dialled 999 after seeing glowing soot falling at about 8.30pm on Wednesday April 25 and realised it was a chimney fire. The crew arrived within five minutes, put protective covers over furniture and tidied up and checked for hotspots afterwards, and let daughter Lucy, eight, pose in a helmet.

Mr Milnes, who breeds pigs, said: 'They were absolutely fantastic. The guy came in and assessed the situation and told them what to do and it was like clockwork. They made me feel it was OK to call them and not to feel guilty.

'You couldn't even tell they had been. The kids thought it was fantastic. One of them was joking with them. When they got asked if they could try the helmet on, it made what was at first a panicky situation into something that was a bit more fun and it made light of the night.'