A MAN was carried unconscious from a house fire after neighbours raised the alarm.

The man, believed to be in his 50s, was rescued from the blaze on the ground floor by firefighters who were called to Andrew Lane, Sharples late on Tuesday night.

He was thought to have suffered from smoke inhalation and his condition is critical, police said.

The cause of the fire at the 1930s semi detached house is not known but fire investigation officers were working at the site overnight and police crime scene investigators were at the property.

A neighbour who called 999 claimed police had been called to a disturbance at the house on Monday night, but police did not confirm that.

The man, who did not want to be named, said: “I was out the back having a smoke and I heard a fire breaking out but I thought nothing of it because we sometimes burn our gardening waste in the back.

“But I thought it sounded quite extreme so I walked to the side and there were huge flames shooting out of the downstairs window.”

He said he saw paramedics taking the man into the ambulance on a stretcher.

Andy Hardman, station manager at Bolton Central Fire Station, said: "It was a well-developed fire in the living room of the house. The firefighters entered the property and found him on the ground floor."

Firefighters put out the blaze and ventilated the property.

Several people in the area said the occupier kept to himself and that the house had been rented out to tenants by the landlord.

One resident, who saw the emergency services arrive, said: “I just came back and there was just police, ambulances and fire engines everywhere.

“I had gone for a walk up the road and you can see some of the damage to the windows.

“I know there has been a fire and it must have been quite serious. I think the gentleman who lives there tends to keep to himself.”

Another resident, who lives just up the road from where the fire took place, said: “The house has been let out quite a few times but I don’t really know who lives there at the moment.

“I was woken up by the fire engines and came out to have a look. I originally thought someone had left their car running.

“It looked like there were a lot of fire engines so it must be quite serious. I just hope the man is OK.”

A spokesman for the North West Ambulance Service said: “We were called to the scene at 9.49pm and we committed quite a few resources.

“We sent our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), two rapid response vehicles and an ambulance and we took a man to Royal Bolton Hospital.”

Four fire engines were dispatched to the incident — two from Bolton Central, one from Farnworth and one from Bolton North.

The firefighters took three hose reels, six breathing apparatus, a gas detector and a fan into the semi-detached property.