Firefighters are repeating their warning about the dangers of using chip pans after a Sheffield man was pulled from his smoke-filled flat on Saturday.

The 20 year-old had fallen asleep on the sofa after leaving the chip pan cooking at the first floor property on Cemetery Road in Sharrow, at around 8.45am.

Luckily a passer-by saw smoke coming from the kitchen window and dialled 999. The man was sleeping when firefighters from Central and Mansfield Road arrived to rescue him and extinguish the blaze.

Watch Manager James Moll from Central station said: “I have no doubt that if we hadn’t arrived when we did to rescue this man, we would have been dealing with a fatality. He is exceptionally lucky.

“If people need an example of why they shouldn’t use chip pans then this is it. The flat was full of acrid smoke and I’m sure the occupant would not have woken up if firefighters hadn’t arrived.”

The man was checked over by paramedics but declined hospital treatment. Two people from the flat below escaped unharmed after they were alerted by a smoke alarm.