A Shropshire couple were forced to flee their burning home early this morning after a fire broke out filling the property with thick black smoke.

Peter Hale had been woken by the sound of banging and popping and went to investigate.

He found thick black smoke coming from a fire in a fuse box and quickly raised the alarm. He and his wife Hazel fled the property at Moretonwood, near Market Drayton.

Mrs Hale, 66, was taken to the Princess Royal Hospital  suffering from smoke inhalation. Her 67-year-old husband was left feeling “shaken up”.

Mr Hale said: “We are both doing fine. There was an electrical fault which caused smoke and fumes but it was quickly extinguished by the fire service.

“She should be back today. I want to thank the fire and ambulance services who were here in less than 10 minutes.

“We smelled smoke and heard a noise and both woke up. We both left straight away and I made sure my wife was safely outside.

“There is no structural damage and I’m safely back at home.”

Crew manager Mark Smith, from Market Drayton fire station, said he believed the fire started accidentally.

“It just appears to be an electrical fault,” he said.

“We had a call at 3.45am to a property fire, the fire was believed to be involving an internal fuse box.

“On arrival we were met by the occupier who told us he was woken by popping and banging. When he went downstairs to investigate he was met by thick smoke and a fire in the fuse box of the house.

“He raised his wife who was in bed and evacuated the property and sent for the fire service. On our arrival the property was heavily smoke logged and we used two breathing apparatus, one dry powder extinguisher and a covering jet. It was a fire involving the internal fuse box.

“We were there for probably an hour and a half. We had to wait for the electricity board to come and make the property safe.”

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “The 66-year-old woman was given oxygen before being taken to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford for further assessment and treatment. Her husband was uninjured.”

By Deborah Collins and Tom Johannsen