THIS nine-year-old girl potentially saved the lives of her family and her neighbours after waking up in the middle of the night.

Nine-year-old Aoife Dean from Blackbrook woke up around 4am at her home when she could smell something that wasn't right.

Despite the time, the Parish Primary pupil went and woke up her mum Sian to explain what had happened.

Aoife's mum Sian Drew, 33, said: "It's not like Aoife to wake me up like that so I took her back to her bedroom and I could smell a really strong smell of gas.

"I woke my partner Johnathan up and he checked everything in our home but we couldn't see where it was coming from so we called emergency gas.

"When they turned up they checked everywhere but then realised it was coming from next door."

Gas emergency firm Cadent ran next door to try and wake up the neighbours and eventually gained access to find that they had accidentally left the gas cooker on for some time causing a strong smell.

If a flame had been lit, then the home, and those next door, could have been damaged.

Instead, thanks to Aoife's fast actions both homes and families are well.

Sian added: "I'm just so proud of Aoife, I even offered to keep her off school today because she was up since 4am but she wanted to go in.

"I dread to think what could have happened if Aoife didn't alert us and the neighbours lit a cigarette or something, luckily she woke up when she did."

A spokesman for Cadent added: "We get more than 400,000 reports of gas leaks a year across the UK so what is absolutely brilliant in Aoife's case is that she knew at such a young age that something wasn't right and told her parents who called us, which prevented a potential accident.

"We think it is absolutely extraordinary that Aoife did this and she deserves praise not just from her family but also the neighbours in question for her fast actions.

"Her parents must be very proud of her. Well done Aoife."