Firefighters were called to the scene of a garage fire yesterday evening after an overload of electrical cabling overheated.

The fire developed quickly within a garage, in Main Road, Hawkwell, adjacent to a bungalow, after the fire service had been informed by an alert neighbour.

Firefighters worked hard to extinguish the fire by 8.28pm, and managed to contain it to the garage - keeping damage to a minimum in the process.

The fire was caused after cabling of several appliances, a freezer, two fridges and two tumble driers, which had been structured together against the garage wall and used the same power source overheated - causing the freezer to ignite.

Adam Paterson, Crew Manager at Hawkwell Fire Station, said: "This is an example of how dangerous it can be to overload electrical sockets. This property had five different white appliances using the same power source - and while it might be tempting to use as few plugs as possible, this can be the consequence.

"This incident could easily have been much more serious. Please follow our advice when using electrical appliances - if a plug is hot or warm, there is a chance it could ignite if left unattended."