A disabled great-grandmother says she’s been left with “absolutely nothing” after a late-night fire destroyed her bungalow.

Deirdre O’Neil was asleep at her home of 22 years in Sheppey Way, Iwade, near Sittingbourne, when she was woken by her smoke alarm.

The 68-year-old said: “I got up but it was dark because the electric had gone off. I went into the kitchen and saw a fire in the extractor fan.

“I thought I’d put it out with water from the sink but then it just went ‘whoosh’.”

The mum-of-four, whose dog Patch remained by her side as she fled in her nightdress and slippers, alerted her neighbours as the flames took hold.

Fire crews arrived soon after but could not save the bungalow.

“I’ve got nothing, absolutely nothing,” said Mrs O’Neil. “I keep thinking of things I’ve lost and getting upset – but my way of coping is to try and keep laughing.”

She added: "People say I'm lucky because at least I am still alive."

Her daughter Hollie has since launched a Go Fund Me Appeal to raise £2,000 for her mum. To donate, click here.

Hollie said: "I am asking a big ask for my mum. She was woken by her fire alarm only to find her kitchen extractor fan in flames.

"Being disabled, she tried her hardest to do what she could to put the flames out before going to a neighbour to call for help. By the time the fire brigade arrived, there was nothing left of the house.

"As thankful as I am, my mum is still here and is now left with nothing but the nightdress on her back and a pair of slippers.

"The council have put her in a hotel until they can find appropriate accommodation because of her disability. I would like to give her a little hope that she will not be going into an empty property. I know it would mean the world to her but she is probably going to kill me for doing this as she is a proud women.

"I hate to ask but at the end of the day, every little helps."

Dramatic pictures revealed the aftermath of the blaze which tore through her home on September 1 as she watched from the road, comforted by neighbours who provided tea, blankets and helped check on the welfare of her miniature poodle Patch.

As the roof collapsed, a plume of smoke and flames shot into the air and could be seen a mile-and-a-half away on the Isle of Sheppey.

The damage is estimated to be about £30,000, according to her son Terry O’Neil, who warned others to check their fire-alarm batteries.

He said: “The alarm saved her life. That is the only good thing that has come out of this. We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.

“Mum has lost absolutely everything, she walked out of there with just the clothes on her back and her slippers.

“She saw flames in the kitchen, she phoned me and said ‘my house is on fire’.

“I got to the Sheppey bridge which was about a mile and a half away and I could see the smoke from there.”

Mr O’Neil said by the time he arrived at 11.15pm firefighters were tackling the blaze as the roof collapsed.

He added: “The public have been incredible, our neighbours, the fire service, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us.”

But it’s the sentimental photos and keepsakes which are the most traumatic items to lose, he added.

His mum said: "I lost my mum's glasses which I have had since she passed away and I have also lost a baby's shawl in the fire which had been handed down through generations."

The only thing she managed to salvage from the wreckage was an address book which she was trying to dry in her hotel room on the Isle of Sheppey. It had become waterlogged in the fight to put out the fire.

Kent Fire and Rescue said four engines fought back the flames for about two hours. They have not given the cause of the blaze but it is understood to have started in the attic following an electrical fault in a kitchen extraction fan.