A man is recovering in hospital after he was rescued from a house fire in Moldgreen.

The 65-year-old victim had become trapped in his bedroom after the blaze started in his bathroom at the terraced house in Church Lane at 12.30am today.

He did not have a smoke detector so firefighters say he was lucky he realised his home was on fire.

Suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke, he was having difficulty breathing when 999 crews arrived. The first firefighters in carried him down the stairs by two staff to safety outside.

Neighbours were woken up by the sounds of three fire engines – two from Huddersfield and one from Brighouse – which squeezed up the narrow road. Firefighters had to break an upstairs window to release the smoke.

The bathroom was left gutted by the inferno and the rest of the first floor suffered severe heat and smoke damage. The man was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.

Next door neighbour Suzanne Earnshaw, 28, said: “I could smell smoke and then heard all the noise outside and flashing lights.

“It was really lucky it did not spread into any of the neighbouring properties.”

Several others said they knew the man and were shocked that it had happened on the street.

The fire is thought to have been sparked by a cigarette.

Crew commander Paul Gyde, said: “Unfortunately, the gentleman did not have a working smoke detector in his house and was lucky to have noticed the blaze when he did.

“We would like to highlight the importance of having the devices fitted and being in working order in all homes.”