AN 18-year-old woman was hailed as a hero by her flatmate today after waking in the early of hours of the morning to help prevent a potentially serious fire.

AN 18-year-old woman was hailed as a hero by her flatmate today after waking in the early of hours of the morning to help prevent a potentially serious fire.

Rachael Foster, 18, of Langley Close, Felixstowe, woke at about 4.20am yesterday to the sound of an alarm.

She immediately got out of the bed to investigate its source and found the next-door flat was filled with smoke.

She said: "I was asleep in my bedroom when I was woken by the sound of some sort of alarm going off. I went outside to try and find where it was coming from and found it was from next door.

"I was knocking on the door trying to wake the man up, but couldn't. So I phoned the police to tell them to get the fire brigade down here."

Four fire engines, two from Felixstowe and two from Ipswich, attended the incident and brought it under control within 20 minutes.

A 16-year-old inside the flat was taken out of the building but did not require treatment from paramedics called to the scene.

Miss Foster's flatmate, Penny Harvey, 18, said: "I think what she did was brilliant. She's a hero.

"I was awake at the time but didn't hear anything. It's very lucky she woke up because it could've been serious."

The incident is believed to have been caused by a pizza being left in the oven of the flat.