A VAN driver banged on doors to get residents to safety after a blaze broke out at a house in Bolton.

He jumped into action after noticing smoke billowing out of a property in Shepherd Cross Street near to Chorley Old Road.

The fire caught light in the front upstairs bedroom of the mid-terrace property at around 12.30pm.

There was a single male occupant in the property and he managed to escape after the van driver, who had parked outside the nearby Ace Performance motor store to get a number plate fitted, saw the smoke and ran to knock on the doors of the home and its neighbours.

Crews from Bolton, Bolton North and Atherton attended and extinguished the blaze.

Bolton watch manager Ian Reid said: "It's an accidental fire.

"The man fell asleep on the bed with a cigarette.

"He was rescued by a passer-by who saw smoke, went through the open front door and shouted up to the man, who was running in and out of the bedroom shouting for help.

"The passer-by pretty much dragged him out."

The occupant, believed to be a tenant, was checked over by paramedics and given oxygen.

Mr Reid said half of the bedroom had been damaged by fire and the rest of the property, especially the upper floor, had been smoke damaged, and the property was unliveable for the time being.

Firefighters remained on the scene and Shepherds Cross Street stayed cordoned off at its junction with Chorley Old Road for about an hour and 15 minutes.