BOAT owners must test their smoke alarm regularly or risk 'drowning in smoke', Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has warned.

The fire service has a blunt message for boat owners in the lead up to Boat Fire Safety Week, 'Don’t drown in toxic smoke - Fit a smoke alarm and test it regularly'.

The warning comes in the lead up to Boat Fire Safety Week, which takes place between May 25-31.

As part of the national Fire Kills campaign, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service are asking local boat owners to make vital safety checks and learn more about fire to stay safe this summer.

Since 2006 Cheshire has attended 17 fires involving boats. Half of them were on a barge.

In Cheshire in 2007 a woman died as a result of a fire on a boat. No smoke alarms were fitted on the vessel, which may have saved her life, if they had been installed.

Cheshire firefighters are supporting Boat Safety Week for the start of the boating season, and are asking owners to make regular, basic checks, fit a smoke alarm and know their escape route.

Keith Brooks, Head of Prevention and Protection at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Smoke is a silent killer and smoke alarms detect the first signs of a fire, giving people valuable time to get out of a boat safely.

I would strongly urge anyone that sleeps on a boat to get a smoke alarm. It may just save your life.”