CHRISTMAS is a season of good will and merriment. A time for giving loved ones gifts, cooking a feast of overindulgence and generally feeling a nice warm festive glow. During the festive season, homes can be full with family and friends, when this is com

CHRISTMAS is a season of good will and merriment. A time for giving loved ones gifts, cooking a feast of overindulgence and generally feeling a nice warm festive glow.

During the festive season, homes can be full with family and friends, when this is combined with the excitement of Christmas, the potential for an increased intake in alcohol and the general stress of ensuring the occasion proceeds as planned, it all too easy to forget about basic fire prevention advice.

A house fire can be devastating at any time of the year, but particularly so at Christmas, so we are urging people to remember fire prevention advice as they enjoy themselves.

If you know of family members that do not have smoke alarms, consider buying them one as a Christmas present, or if you know of any vulnerable family members, friends or neighbours, contact us so we can fit a smoke alarm in their home and check for fire risks. This could be the priceless gift of life if they were to suffer a fire in their home.

Graham Stagg, Chief Fire Officer for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We wish everyone in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough a very happy, and most importantly safe, Christmas and New Year."

• Make sure all decorations, including your Christmas tree are flame retardant.

• Make sure you fit the correct rated fuse to electrical plugs and use a good quality adaptor fitted with a fuse, to plug Christmas lights into a socket.

• Don't place Christmas trees too close to open fires, portable heaters or radiators.

• Don't place Christmas cards, stockings or decorations above an unguarded open fire or heater.

• Don't trail electrical flexes from fairy lights across floors or place under a carpet or rug.

• Don't leave Christmas lights on and unattended for a long period.

• Don't place Christmas presents too close to fairy lights, heaters of fires.

• Make sure you have a working smoke alarm which will give an early warning should a fire break out.

To find out more about Christmas fire safety or smoke alarms, contact 01480 444666 or visit www.cambsfire.gov.uk