A PENSIONER has warned of the dangers of using a chip pan after a fire broke out in his home.

Norman Scoble, aged 92, fancied some chips on Saturday afternoon, but did not want to go out in the rain to buy them.

Instead, he decided to make his own and turned on the chip pan at his flat in Highfield House, a sheltered accommodation scheme in Highfield Road, Farnworth.

But the great-grandfather forgot about the chip pan and a blaze broke out shortly before 4.30pm.

He said: “I saw all the smoke and flames coming out of the chip pan, so I got hold of it and threw it in the sink.

”It was scary. It was quite an experience.”

Mr Scoble got in his wheelchair and was helped out of his flat by a woman visiting a neighbouring flat.

He was given oxygen by fire service staff and seen by an ambulance crew, but did not go to hospital.

Mr Scoble, who has lived at Highfield House for eight years, is now warning people to be careful when using chip pans.

He said: “Chip pans can be very dangerous. I’m going to throw mine away.

“I don’t think I will get a chip pan again. If I can’t get to the chip shop, I will ask someone else to go for me.”

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is running a campaign called Ban The Pan, which aims to raise awareness of the danger of chip pans following a number of serious fires.

Michael O’Neill, crew manager at Farnworth fire station, said: “This proves how important it is to ban the chip pan.

“We encourage people to use a deep fat fryer instead of a chip pan because it is safer.”