A quick-thinking daughter saved her disabled father and mother from a blaze when their dishwasher burst into flames last night.

Alisha Jilani, of Nower Hill, Pinner, was woken up by the “strong stench of fire” at around midnight.

The 44-year-old ran downstairs to the kitchen in her pyjamas where she saw thick plumes of smoke fill the room.

She said: “It was really scary, I could see smoke and the dishwasher was on fire.

“I knew it was too big to be able to contain myself, so I shut the door and ran out to my parents.”

Her 74-year-old father, Ifljilani Butt, who uses a wheelchair, and her mother, Suary, 70, were asleep at the time.

She quickly tried to wake them up but said she begin to panic when she had trouble hauling her father into his wheelchair.

She quickly dialled 999 and the firemen came within around three minutes of her placing the call.

Miss Butt, an eco-consultant for a law firm, said: “We were very lucky last night.

“The fire only damaged a small part of the kitchen, but had I have not woken up when I did, it could have been a lot worse.”

The carpets in the hallway leading up to the kitchen also suffered smoke damage.

Her brother, Saquib, 42, rushed home from a night shift when he found out about the fire.

Miss Jelani was taken to Northwick Park Hospital as a precaution, where she was monitored for carbon monoxide poisoning, but was later discharged.

She added: “I cannot praise the firemen enough. They helped get my dad into a wheelchair and got us all to safety, and then contained the fire very quickly.

“I am so grateful to them - they were amazing.”