A DOG died in a freak blaze at a flat in Rawthorpe.

A faulty mobile phone charger left on a bed has been blamed for the fire.

The charger is believed to have set fire to bedding which smouldered for several hours, filling the flat with choking smoke.

When a woman who lives at the flat returned home she found her dog collapsed.

It is thought she tried to pluck the dog to safety and needed treatment for smoke inhalation herself.

Huddersfield firefighters were called to the maisonette in Brownroyd Avenue at 10.10pm on Tuesday to find the fire had already burned itself out.

The bed was destroyed and the four rooms were heavily smoke damaged.

Watch commander Andy Blackburn, of Huddersfield Fire Station, said it was unusual but not unheard of for phone chargers to start fires.

He said the young woman had gone out in the afternoon and left the charger on her bed.

It overheated and bedding caught alight.

“It was an extremely slow-burning fire,” said Mr Blackburn.

“The windows were smoke-blackened and there was a great deal of smoke damage.”

Mr Blackburn said a smoke detector had sounded in the afternoon but no one had reported it. Internal doors had also been left open.