NEIGBOURS helped wake a man whose flat was becoming heavily smoke logged after a pan of food caught fire after he fell asleep.

Fire crews from Fairweather Green and Bradford were called to a flat on St Paul's Close in Manningham at 11pm on Sunday to reports of a kitchen fire.

When they arrived they found that the occupant, a man in his mid 60s, had been helped out of the property by neighbours.

He had put a pan of food on the hob, but fell asleep, and it caught fire. Although the fire was restricted to the pan, it led to the flat fast becoming smoke logged.

Neighbours noticed the smoke and managed to rouse the man, who was treated at the scene but did not require hospital treatment.

Roger Binns, watch manager at Fairweather Green, said: "The property was very smoke logged, but there was very little damage. Although it was confined to the pan, the fire could have been a lot more dangerous if it had been allowed to spread."