Sleeping man rescued from house fire

Three fire engines went to the property on Atherton Road, in Hindley, at 1pm on Wednesday to deal with the fire.

Other news: Strike date announced for borough's hospital staffMike Wilding, watch manager at Hindley fire station, said: "A neighbour raised the alarm. There was smoke coming from the back of the house.

"When we arrived, we didn't know if there was anybody inside so we had to force entry in the kitchen. There was someone upstairs asleep, it was an adult male who luckily wasn't affected by the smoke and came straight out.

"He didn't have a smoke alarm on the ground floor and if he had, it might have warned him."

The fire is believed to have been started by smoking materials that had been carelessly discarded in a waste bin.

Luckily the quick response by the fire service meant there was only damage to the bin and the flames did not spread further.

Mr Wilding added: "Always have a working smoke alarm and if you are going to smoke, make sure that you put out cigarettes properly."