A family have experienced a lucky escape after a mirror they left on a table when they went on holiday reflected the sun and burnt a huge hole in a window frame.

Santiago Pilgrim, his girlfriend Amelia Taylor and her family returned from a week-long holiday to Switzerland to find a frame in their house in Tunbridge Wells had been seriously burnt in their absence.

Santiago, 24, said a vanity mirror had been left on the side table in the property in Acer Avenue, when the group left for their holiday - when they returned they were shocked by the effects of the reflection.

Mr Pilgrim said: "It looked like their had even been a flame on the window frame where the brown marks are above the burn.

"I wasn't at the house when Amelia and her family noticed it, but she sent me a picture straight away. It was a real shock for everyone.

"It's really scary to think what could have happened, there is a blind 15cm above it so who knows what would have happened if that caught fire too. All the doors were open so it could have spread really quickly.

"When you leave for holiday you think about locking the doors, turning the gas and electric off, locking the windows, but never would we have thought about moving mirrors."

Mr Pilgrim returned from holiday with Amelia's family on Sunday, July 6 and felt he needed to post the image on social media this week to warn other homeowners and anyone going on holiday of the risks of leaving a mirror in the sun.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue said: "Fires of this type are relatively rare, but we would ask residents to think carefully about ensuring mirrors and other reflective glass objects are positioned away from direct sunlight.”

Mr Pilgrim said the mirror has now been placed under the bed, out of the sunlight and that he would always take extra safety precautions before taking a trip in the future.