Four dogs have been saved from a potential fire at a home in Silvergate, near Aylsham - just a few months after a blaze which ripped through a row of nearby cottages.

Four dogs have been saved from a potential fire at a home in Silvergate, near Aylsham - just a few months after a blaze which ripped through a row of nearby cottages.

Emergency services were called to the scene near Blickling Hall, by Aylsham, after the alarm was raised on Saturday at around 4.25pm.

Fire crews from Aylsham and Reepham found two smouldering logs next to a woodburner in the lounge area.

The four dogs were taken into the garden and a positive pressure ventilation fan was used to remove the smoke.

The cottage was unoccupied at the time, but the owners returned after a neighbour heard a smoke alarm and alerted the fire service.

Aylsham fire station watch manager Johnny Rayner said: 'The message is not to stack logs too close to wood burners. The occupiers of the house have been very lucky, this could have been a more serious situation.'

The incident took place just two months short of the anniversary of a devastating blaze which ripped through a row of thatched cottages in Silvergate - leaving three families homeless.

Tenants were inundated with donations from a community eager to help them get back on their feet and all were provided with permanent accommodation by the National Trust on the Blickling Estate.

Initial investigations from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service suggested an ember from a woodburner may have landed on the thatch, causing the fire to start.

A woodburner had been lit in the row of cottages about 20 minutes before the blaze broke out on April 30.