A 24-year-old mum said a personal 'thank-you' yesterday to the firefighters who saved her life after a house fire.

Alison Baxter, of Brick Row, Wyke, met her heroes at Odsal Fire Station face-to-face to thank them for saving her after a chip pan fire at her home on September 11.

The firemen rushed to the scene at 5.30am to find asthmatic Miss Baxter, who had stopped breathing, on the floor.

Station Officer Glen Brown said: "We were able to rescue Miss Baxter from her house without too much trouble, but when we realised she had stopped breathing Firefighter Mark Hemingway began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and managed to get her breathing again."

He added: "The ambulance crews arrived and continued to care for her. She was very lucky."

The fire broke out when Miss Baxter fell asleep around midnight on the sofa while frying some chips after a few drinks on a night out. She said: "Usually I just go for a takeaway. I don't know why I decided to have chips. I don't even remember putting the chip pan on."

When she woke up she saw the chip pan had burnt itself out and called the fire service but collapsed shortly after from the effects of the smoke. Miss Baxter added: "I would have woken up sooner but there were no smoke alarms in the house."

Firefighters fitted two smoke alarms on the night of the fire. Firefighter Hemingway said: "If there had been a smoke alarm she would have woken up in the first 30 seconds. But instead she's had three hours of inhalation. She's very lucky."

Miss Baxter said it was lucky that her three-year-old daughter Rebecca was not in the house at the time and was staying at her dad's house.

Meeting her rescuers yesterday, she said: "I just wanted to thank the men who saved my life. I won't be getting the chip pan out again!"