London Fire Brigade (LFB) is urging Londoners to check their smoke alarms in the home and have warned that just one smoke alarm isn't enough.

New figures show that in two thirds of fatal fires over the past three years smoke alarms have not alerted people to the fire because they haven’t been installed or were fitted too far away from where the fire started.

This has lead to the LFB warning that one smoke alarm in the home is not enough and people should think about getting more detection in their homes.

The news comes as it is believed a fire at a Vision Express in Ruislip on Monday (February 22) wasn't detected by the smoke alarm inside.

According to LFB, fire deaths have come down dramatically, for the last three years the number of people who have sadly died has been under 50 a year but they believe greater home detection can further reduce the numbers.

Firefighters say that as a minimum your home should have at least one smoke alarm on every level of your home but that people should install more alarms in areas of risk especially if they are smokers, have mobility issues or live alone.

Over a third of home fatal fires happen in the living room, 30 per cent are in the bedroom and in a many cases the smoke doesn’t reach the alarms and fire chiefs say by then it could be too late.

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Director of operations at LFB, Dave Brown, said there is “no excuse” not to install smoke alarms.

He said: "Simply having one smoke alarm is not enough. Often our fire investigators find that a person died because the smoke never reached the alarm in the hallway and didn’t give the resident early enough warning.

“There can be no excuse not to install smoke alarms in key areas of your home apart from the kitchen so that you help protect you and loved ones from fire and have a greater chance of survival."