A LIT firework was shoved through the letterbox of a house while a couple slept.

Clare Tubby and boyfriend Tommy Cammack woke to the sound of their smoke alarm going off and their dog, Rosie, barking.

Miss Tubby, 29, said she rushed down the stairs to see the front room filled with smoke.

The firework had burned the couple’s curtain across the door and their landlord’s hallway carpet.

Miss Tubby, a sales associate who works for NFU Mutual in Earls Colne, had to cancel a three-hour exam she was due to take today because she was so upset.

She said: “The most distressing thing was hearing the smoke alarm go off, because you don’t hear them usually unless you have cooked something. I was frightened, upset and tearful when I rang the police.

“Tommy was very angry. I felt sad for the people who did this, sad they didn’t think about what they had done and how we would feel.”

The High Street resident was relieved she had shut her six-year-old Lakeland cross terrier, Rosie, in the kitchen.

Insp Neil Murray, of Halstead police, said: “Putting a lit firework through a letterbox is an incredibly stupid and reckless thing to do.

“Thankfully, nobody was injured in this incident.

“I would urge anybody who saw anything or who has information about this matter to contact police urgently at Halstead police station.”

The damage will cost about £400 to repair.

Anyone with information about the incident on Monday at 1.40am should call PC Simon Faraday on 0300 3334444 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Peter Robertson, Halstead fireman, said smoke alarms were essential lifesavers.

He urged anyone without them in their home to call 01376 345537 to arrange for a free installation.