HOUSEHOLDERS who experience a chip pan fire in their kitchen are being advised not to try and tackle the fire themselves.

Fire firefighters from Cleckheaton were called out this afternoon to a property in Thornes Park, in Brighouse, at 2.30pm but the male resident had already extinguished the blaze.

A spokesman for the fire service said. “Nowadays we are advising people not to attempt to put the fire out themselves with a damp tea towel - as the advice used to suggest - because some people were making the matter worse. They either wet the tea towel too much causing the oil to explode, or didn’t wet it enough.

“We ask them instead to, if possible, turn the heat off, put a lid on the pan and then call out the fire service so we can deal with it.”

The resident at the address was treated for smoke inhalation.