News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Firefighters and an ambulance crew used Google Translate to communicate with a Russian nanny to establish whether anybody had been trapped in a house fire.

Emergency services were called to the property in Churchill Drive, Weybridge, Surrey, on Wednesday after a blaze broke out in the kitchen.

But as fire crews attempted to establish if anyone was still in the house, they encountered a language barrier with the only apparent occupant, the Russian nanny who did not speak English.

But quick-thinking ambulance staff came up with the solution of using the Google Translate service to communicate with her.

Crew commander Tony Pascall, of Painshill fire station, said: “It was a kitchen fire and the whole cooker was ablaze, but the lady in the house, a nanny, did not speak a word of English.

“We were rushing around trying to find out if anyone was in the house and we were trying to ask how she was feeling and where were the house owners.”

He explained that the two paramedics came up with the idea of using Google Translate on their hand-held devices, but he said the problems were made worse because the nanny had left her glasses inside the house.

He said: “The nanny could not read the screen and had left her glasses in the kitchen, we had to go back in to get them. It was quite amusing in the end.”

Mr Pascall said the woman was given air at the scene because of her distressed state but the property only suffered limited damage.

An investigation is now under way to establish the cause of the fire, he added.

Google Translate is an online translation service which can be used to help communicate in 90 languages.