A Jack Russell terrier was today hailed for raising the alarm to save a family from a fire which swept through their home near Market Drayton.

Bessie’s barks alerted the family after the fire broke out at their home in Woore.

Owner Christian Heath, of Gravenhunger Lane, said Bessie saved the day after she began barking ‘pretty intensively’ when the fire broke out in a stable block alongside their house on Boxing Day.

The fire destroyed the stable block and a garden room and 75 per cent of the roof of the home, as well as leaving a number of bedrooms and bathrooms severely damaged.

Mr Heath said: “My wife and I were having a meal with our two daughters, their husbands and children on Boxing Day at about 6.30pm. Bessie was in the garden and started barking pretty intensively which made my wife get up and look through the window.

“It was only because of her persistent barking that we noticed the flames coming out of the stable block – Bessie warned us 10 minutes before it started working its way through the roof.”

Fire crews from Market Drayton, Prees, Oswestry and Shrewsbury, took more than 11 hours to bring the fire under control, with help from crews based in Staffordshire and Cheshire.

The cause of the fire is unknown and the cost of the damage is now being assessed by loss adjusters.

Mr Heath said: “It’s quite a big house, with a garden room and loft above it that were both completely destroyed.

“Thankfully, we were all untouched by the fire because of Bessie barking in the garden.

“She’s always in the house, but that night she was wandering around outside and if it hadn’t have been for her barking, I dread to think what would have happened.”