A TEENAGER has been hailed a hero after rescuing a friend from a blazing house.

Lee Reid, 18, of Copley Avenue, Meltham, rushed into his neighbours' home when their chip pan caught fire at about 2am yesterday and dragged his mate to safety.

Now he has been praised by the family.

Jim and Susan Lowther and their children Philip, 18, and Jodie, 15, were asleep at the time. They managed to get out but did not know their eldest son Christopher, 20, had collapsed in the living-room.

Lee, a mechanics student at Huddersfield Technical College, said: "I heard the alarm going off and then my mum said: `Sue's house is on fire'. I ran in and went up the stairs. Jim and Philip were still up there.

"When I came back outside I remembered I had heard a groaning coming from the living-room so I ran back in and saw Chris unconscious. I just grabbed him and dragged him out.

"I was just doing what anybody would have."

Mrs Lowther praised Lee and another neighbour, Mike Mail, who helped.