Man rescued after pizza fire

And later they praised a neighbour who raised the alarm after smelling smoke.

The drama happened at around 12.45am today when crews were called to an address in St Stephen’s Road, Deepdale, Preston.

A brigade spokesman said: “It appears the gentleman had put a pizza in the oven for his supper and then fallen asleep.

“One of the neighbours smelled smoke and called us.

“When we arrived we had to gain entry by means of force - by breaking through the door.

“There was a pizza cooking in the oven and the man was in the bedroom. Fortunately it was far enough away from the kitchen and wasn’t badly affected by the smoke.

“The man did not require any first aid and was fine. Luckily for him we got there just in time.

“He is fortunate that he had a vigilant neighbour who smelled smoke and alerted us.

“Had that not happened then it could have had really serious consequences.

“The message here is that you should never leave cooking food unattended, especially if you are under the influence of alcohol.

“This man was lucky, although his front door suffered a bit of damage when we broke in.”