A MAN rescued his neighbour from a house blaze.

A neighbour feared the worst when he heard a smoke alarm sounding from his neighbour’s semi-detached home in Highgate Drive in Little Hulton at 8.50pm on Tuesday.

He broke down the door and pulled out a 51-year-old man, who lived in the home.

The fire was started after the man put a cigarette in a mop bucket in the kitchen, which caused the mop to set on fire.

Firefighters put out the blaze within minutes, but remained at the scene for an hour. Paramedics carried out checks on the man, who was believed to have suffered from the effects of breathing in smoke, but he declined hospital treatment.

Danny Marshall, watch commander at Farnworth Fire Station, said: “The man in the house put a cigarette in a mop bucket but it was a neighbour who brought him out of the home. There was very little fire damage, the mop was a bit singed.

“The smoke alarm alerted neighbours. A neighbour kicked the man’s front door in as he could see smoke in the air.”