A 38-YEAR-OLD man had a lucky escape after falling asleep while cooking.

Firefighters from Bolton Central spent nearly an hour tackling a chip pan fire at 9.40pm on Friday. It happened in the kitchen of a terrace home in Hughes Street, Halliwell.

The occupant of the home had fallen asleep after drinking and was alerted to the fire by his smoke alarm. He was unable to find his keys and could not get out of the front door. He also attempted to tackle the fire by taking the pan outside.

Ian Read, watch manager at Bolton Central Fire Station, said: “The man was very lucky. He had severe smoke inhalation, he was coughing and spluttering. It would have been very different if it was five or 10 minutes later. These incidents happen at this time of year when people are having a drink and celebrating Christmas. The man had been working night shifts. It was his night off and he had a few drinks and put the chip pan on and fell asleep.”

He urged people not to tackle fires, to always get takeaways when drinking rather than attempting to cook. And he told people to ensure they have an escape plan in the event of an emergency. He was taken to hospital for checks.