A potentially disastrous fire in Brighouse was averted thanks to an alert resident. On his way back from the supermarket, Paul Sharp noticed smoke seeping out of a building that housed businesses and his flat on the corner of Commercial Street and Church Lane.

He called the fire brigade, who discovered a blaze that had started in a store room at the back of a clothes shop.

Watch commander Andy Wooler, of Brighouse fire station, said: “The man had seen smoke coming through the walls over two floors. It is a bit of a rabbit warren in there and it was thick with smoke so we struggled to find the fire. We had to use door-breaking equipment to get into a hidden store room where the fire was.”

Flats, a chemist, a chiropodists and the clothes shop were all filled with smoke as a result of the fire. All the businesses were shut at the time. No-one was injured. Fire crews were called to the scene at 6.20pm.

They had put the fire out by about 7pm. The cause of the fire is currently unknown.