Meet the pet rabbit that didn't flopsy about when it came to saving its owners when their house burned down

The bunny - surprisingly enough called Rabbit - woke up his owners by scratching at their bedroom door when fire began to spread through the rest of their Melbourne home.

Allowed to roam free through the house, it could have been a case of 'run Rabbit, run Rabbit, run, run, run,' - the bunny could have high-tailed it through a cat flat or even a gap in a window as the flames took hold.

Saved: Michelle Finn cradles her pet bunny, imaginatively called Rabbit, who alerted them to a fire in their home

But instead, he headed for the bedroom door and began furiously scratching away, creating enough noise to wake up Mr Gerry Finn and his wife Michelle.

When jewellery-maker Mr Finn opened the bedroom door to find out what all the commotion was, he was beaten back by smoke and heat.

He grabbed Rabbit, ushered his wife outside and then called on the help of neighbours to help him fight the blaze before four fire crews arrived to dampen things down.

'There's absolutely no doubt that Rabbit saved our lives,' Mrs Finn said last night.

'He alerted us in the nick of time. We were both fast asleep and we might not have got out in time if we hadn't heard the scratching.

'Rabbit is free to roam the house, unless we have guests and then we lock him in his cage.

'He's very much an inside pet, like a cat, but I don't think he was very impressed with the fire breaking out like that.'

Fire investigators believe a faulty heater may have sparked the blaze.

The house usually has a fire alarm fitted in the lounge room, but it had been removed while the room was being repainted.

It might be expected that a pet-loving couple would pay tribute to a smart rabbit for saving their lives, but the praise goes further than Mr and Mrs Finn.

'Definitely the rabbit saved them,' said Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Mick Swift.

'The heat was intense and so was the smoke. If there had been much more of a delay they might not have got out.'

Incredibly, Rabbit had survived more than half an hour of heat and smoke inhalation before alerting his owners.

The six month old bunny was taken to a vet for a check up after the drama and given a clean bill of health.