A Rotherham couple had their neighbour to thank after his prompt actions helped them to escape a chip pan fire.

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening, when the occupants of the house on Bay Tree Avenue, Sunnyside, put the chip pan on before falling asleep in the living room. Smoke alarms failed to wake them but an alert neighbour heard the noise and put a blanket over the pan before using a dry powder extinguisher to finish the job. The residents got out unharmed.

Firefighters from Maltby and Rotherham were called to the incident at 7.10pm and took the pan outside before ventilating the property. They warned that chip pan fires cost lives, and urged people to replace them with a deep fat fryer or use oven chips instead.