A LUCKY neighbour was awoken by her dog to the acrid smell of smoke as the bungalow next to her home went up in flames.

Cynthia Carter was woken up by her loyal pug Doug when a blaze caught hold in a neighbouring home, in Talbot Avenue, Jaywick.

She emerged from her bungalow to be greeted by billowing black smoke.

She said: “I had to get the hose out to keep the flames at bay, before the fire service arrived about ten minutes later.

“There were three engines, there must have been around 20 firefighters here at one point.

“I am very lucky. It’s just a broken window and only the outside guttering.

“To be honest I was relieved it didn’t have more damage than that.”

The occupants of the bungalow, understood to be a family with four children, were thankfully away from the property at the time of the fire.

The blaze took hold at about 5.16am yesterday morning, with neighbours initially worried the family may still be inside.

Miss Carter added: “The firemen were so quick, they were fast and responsive - straight on my house to keep the outside cool. It could have been a lot worse.

“The police were here, forensics and investigators.”

She added: “Nothing really happens down here, I have been here almost ten years and this is the most serious thing.

“The black smoke was everywhere.”

Neighbour Graham Robinson checked on other neighbours to ensure everyone was safe.

He said: “Smoke was billowing out the windows.”

“There was so much you couldn’t tell which bungalow it was coming from.”

An Essex Fire Service spokesman said the extensive damage meant the cause of the fire remained undetermined.

“On arrival crews advised that the property, which is a bungalow measuring around eight metres by five metres, was well alight,” he said.

He added: “Firefighters worked to extinguish the fire by 7.55am.

“The bungalow has been destroyed.

“The cause of the fire has been recorded as undetermined.”