Fire chiefs have warned householders not to leave pans unattended when cooking following a blaze at a terraced home in North Dean Road, Keighley.

The occupant had gone out and the alarm was raised when smoke detectors activated, alerting a neighbour.

Firefighters forced entry to the property and crews wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze, which was restricted to the cooker. There was smoke damage to the rest of the house.

Crews from Keighley and Haworth were called out to the incident at 11am today.

Watch commander Chris Hannah, of Keighley fire station, said: “This incident shows the value of having smoke detectors fitted. If the neighbour hadn’t have been alerted, the damage would have been considerably worse.

“Also once again it emphasises the importance of not leaving pans unattended on cookers.”