A five-month-old baby has been taken to hospital after an electric blanket fire broke out in the bedroom he was sleeping in.

The baby's mother, Harriet Fulford, heard the smoke alarm and went to the bedroom to see what was happening. When she opened the door, smoke billowed out of the room.

The bed, next to the cot where her baby Jack was sleeping, was on fire.

Crews were called to the house at Cobden Crescent in the Newington area of Edinburgh at around 12.20am on Thursday.

Jack had to be given oxygen before being taken to the Sick Kids Hospital to be treated to smoke inhalation.

His grandmother, Georgina Clayton, said: "The blanket was on the parent's bed. It was an old electric blanket. The baby was in a cot next to the bed and he had inhaled a lot of the smoke fumes so he had to be checked over.

"Harriet was alerted to it by the baby monitor. I think he was crying and she went up to see how he was and she was horrified by all of the smoke.

"The fire brigade, police and ambulance all came and she took Jack to hospital for him to be checked over. He was in hospital for an hour and a half. They were just checking his oxygen levels as a precaution. He is fine. He was probably the least affected out of any of us."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire a Rescue Service said: "This is a salutary reminder that electrical blankets should be checked every year to make sure that there are in good working order.

"By coincidence the service is carrying out electric blanket testing in West Lothian today because every winter we deal with this type of incident and although in small numbers we want of reduce the likelihood of a repeat.

"In particular, don’t fold electric blankets when storing them as this can cause damage to the wiring. If in doubt get your blanket tested by a qualified electrician."