The injured man, who is in his late 50s, managed to stagger out of his flat in agony and alert his neighbours, who called firefighters.

Around 15 to 20 residents living in The Paddock, Fulwood, Preston, were evacuated by police as 15 firefighters tackled the blaze.

The first crew, which was on scene in just four and a half minutes, were faced with a third floor flat well alight.

The occupant, who is believed to live alone, suffered burns to his arms, head and legs and was taken to the burns unit at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.

A woman in her 20s in a nearby flat had to be led to safety. She had been suffering from slight effects of smoke and the shock of the incident.

Watch manager Colin Byers, of Preston fire station, said the cause of the fire, which started in the bedroom, was still under investigation but it was believed to be an accident.

Emergency crews were alerted to the scene just before 2.30am on Thursday. The entire flat and its contents were severely damaged in the fire. No other flats were affected.

The evacuated residents were outside for around an hour.

Watch manager Byers said the flat did not have a working smoke alarm and stressed the importance of the devices.

He said: "He is very lucky to be alive. It was only by chance, probably the pain from his burns, he actually work up.

"He was lucky he wasn't completely overcome by the smoke.

"The message is if he had had a working smoke alarm he would have been alerted to the fire far sooner and would have been able to escape, it would have worken him earlier."

If anyone needs a smoke alarm or is concerned about fire safety in their home they can call the freephone Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service on 0800 169 1125.