One-year-old Ben Boden, who along with his mum Rachel Boden survived a serious fire in their Looe home last week because they were alerted by a smoke detector, has been given a special Blaze Bear by the local fire brigade.

The crew who attended the blaze were not aware at the time that it was Ben's first birthday and wanted to give him a present to help make up for all the gifts he had lost. Sub Officer Martin Wingrove from Liskeard, the Community Fire Safety Liaison Officer for the Caradon Area, said everyone was pleased that Rachel had had a smoke detector in her home.

'Without it there would not have been a happy ending such as this, we would have had a certain tragedy on our hands,' he said.

'I cannot emphasise enough how important it is for every householder to have this life saving equipment'.