Dogsey

A hero dog dubbed 'Smokey' by firefighters saved three lives after a blaze took hold in a flat in west London.

The pooch roused its owners when smoke began to fill the ground floor property in Shepherd's Bush.

The trio, two men and one woman, found themselves trapped by flames and smoke.

But thanks to their clever canine, they had enough time to call fire crews who rushed to the property to extinguish the flames.

Firefighters also rescued five women from two other flats above the ground floor property.

Paramedics treated all eight casualties for smoke inhalation at the scene but no one required hospital treatment.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: "The residents of the ground floor flat – where the fire started – were lucky their dog alerted them to the fire as a smoke alarm fitted in the property had no battery in it and did not sound."