HALF the people killed in house fires in West Yorkshire are aged over 60.

Yet they comprise only one in five of the population.

In a bid to boost home safety for the over-60s a scheme to feed back information to the fire service from health and social services home visits has been launched.

Now, when health and social services workers visit people to carry out formal assessments of needs - such as whether they need home care help, meals on wheels or nursing support - they will also ask a number of simple questions about fire safety.

If the answers about fire safety note any concerns - such as the home not having any smoke detectors - the information will be passed to the fire service, which will contact the person and arrange for a free home safety check.

The scheme - called Single Assessment Process - is being piloted in West Yorkshire and Leicestershire.

If it works well it will then become nationwide.

Clr Stephen Baines from West Yorkshire Fire And Rescue Authority said: "We already carry out thousands of free home fire safety checks in the homes of elderly people each year and it is in everyone's interests to streamline effort and target the most vulnerable."