Schoolboy mechanic Lee MacKerill had a lucky escape when his dream bike exploded in flames.

The 14-year-old had been trying to drain petrol from the off-road bike yesterday when some of it spilled on to the hot exhaust and turned the prized Yamaha into a ball of fire.

Lee, who was in the garage under his home in Elizabeth Crescent, Wyke, leapt back from the fire and had to tear off his burning track-suit bottoms.

His step-dad, Neil Smith, 50, heard his screams and ran to help as smoke from the garage rose through the floorboards and set off alarms in the house.

The drama brought back horrific memories for Mr Smith, who had tried in vain 29 years ago to save an elderly man from a burning house.

The fire started when Lee, a pupil at Hipperholme and Lightcliffe School, wanted to get petrol from the bike to try to start up his uncle's Reliant Robin parked off the road at the back of the garage.

He said: "It happened very quickly. Suddenly there was a lot of fire and I felt the heat on my legs.

"I thought it was the end of me, all I could think was my life was over. I felt sick but knew I had to try to get my trousers off."

Mr Smith said: "I knew from Lee's screams that something was terribly wrong.

" It was just instinct that kicked in but I wasn't prepared for what I saw. His leg was a total mess.

"He'd managed to get his trousers off but he was in pain and shock - it brought back lots of bad memories.

"I shouted for his mum to get help and then I grabbed the garden hose reel to try to get the flames under control - the whole house could have gone up." Lee, who got the trials bike as a present two years ago, has vowed his experience will not put him off his ambition of becoming a mechanic.

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