Food timers aim to cut fire calls in Falmouth

About 350 kitchen timers are being given to elderly people in Cornwall to prevent the fire service being called out to alarms triggered by burnt food.

Firefighters have dealt with incidents at sheltered housing in Falmouth after residents forgot they were cooking, the fire service said.

Crews are automatically called out to the homes. The town fire station said the timers would help remind residents.

Falmouth Town Council and a community fund has paid for the project.

Watch manager Martin Mellor said: "In most cases the automatic fire alarm has gone off because of food giving off smoke and fumes.

"In the majority of instances it was because residents had forgotten that they were cooking something, or they had fallen asleep.

"By offering the cooking timer, we believe that the majority of this type of false alarm could easily be prevented," he added.