A COUPLE escaped a fire in their Heckmondwike flat.

The man and woman were asleep in their beds when fire ripped through their ground floor flat at Strawberry Square.

They were woken by a carbon monoxide alarm in the bedroom as smoke engulfed the flat on Thursday at 11.45pm.

Both escaped the blaze, but the woman returned to search for her cat.

She had to be rescued by two passers-by before Batley firefighters arrived.

The crew used one hose reel and two sets of breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze, which started in the living room.

One of the occupants and a neighbour in an upstairs flat were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Watch manager Neil Shaw, of Batley fire station, said: “The flat was smoke damaged, but the couple were lucky to have been woken by the carbon monoxide alarm.

“The batteries in their smoke detector had gone and they were fast asleep.

“One message we’d like to put out is make sure you maintain your smoke detectors.”

The cause of the fire is believed to have been accidental.