FIREFIGHTERS have found a two-year-old boy, alone, and locked in a bedroom at a burning house in Deptford.

The youngster, who escaped serious injury, was discovered sitting on the floor with a doughnut and a bowl of milk by his side.

Two fire crews - one from Deptford Fire Station and one from Greenwich - attended a kitchen fire in a two-floor maisonette in Lynch Walk, Deptford, at 9.30am.

After knocking down the front door with a sledge-hammer, they put out the fire before going upstairs where one of the bedroom doors was locked.

Watch manager John Banks, who attended the scene, said: "We bashed down the bedroom door with the hammer and found a little boy in there.

"He was sat there, alone, with a bowl of milk and a doughnut.

"We have never seen anything like this. We have found kids alone before - but not locked in a room in a burning building.

"If we had got there 15 minutes later then we probably would have been looking at a fatality.

"The smoke would have been much more heavy and his injuries would almost certainly have been very serious - at least."

The two-year-old boy is now being looked after by social services.

  • The boy's mother,40, has been arrested and bailed to return to police in December.