A MAN was rescued from his burning flat by firefighters.

A neighbour heard a smoke detector go off at a flat below him on Ings Crescent in Thornhill.

He banged on the door, but was unable to get a reply.

Firefighters were called and were about to smash the door down when it was opened from the inside by a man.

The occupier then staggered back into his smoke-filled flat.

Firefighters went after him and carried him to safety.

The 44-year-old man was taken to Dewsbury District Hospital suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke.

He was not badly hurt.

Station Officer Ronnie Goldwater, of Dewsbury fire station, said: "The fire started with a cigarette being dropped on a table.

"If it had fallen onto something like a bed or a settee we would have been dealing with a far more severe fire with more serious consequences.

"As it was, the smoke detector alerted his neighbour to the fire and may well have saved this man's life."

The fire, at 4.30am yesterday, was confined to the table, but the flat was damaged by smoke.