A QUICK thinking neighbour came to the rescue after smelling smoke in a block of flats.

A fire had started in the ground floor flat at Ellesmere Walk in Farnworth after a 61-year-old man left a pan of food on the cooker at 1.35am today.

The man, who lives alone, had fallen asleep and only woke up when he heard firefighters breaking into the flat.

An upstairs neighbour had alerted the fire brigade after smelling smoke. The fire crew helped the man to safety and treated him with oxygen before he was admitted to the Royal Bolton Hospital where he was detained because of smoke inhalation.