Homeowners are being urged to ensure their smoke alarms work, in a new national campaign.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is raising awareness of free home safety visits offered by local firefighters. Assistant chief officer Lewis Ramsay, the service's director of prevention and protection, said the number of house fires in Scotland had reduced by almost 30% over the last 10 years.

Fire crews have seen a marked increase in the number of smoke detectors that raise the alarm, he said.

Despite this, there were 5830 house fires in Scotland last year, resulting in 41 deaths and 1164 injuries.