A MAN hung out of a window and screamed for help as smoke from a chip pan fire filled his flat.

Mark Holding was rushed into intensive care suffering from severe smoke inhalation following his desperate attempt to escape.

The 27-year-old, of Bradford Street, The Haulgh, could not find his front door key and instead resorted to sticking his head through a small window in a bid to find fresh air.

There he shouted to a passer-by, who phoned the fire brigade on his mobile phone at 2.20am yesterday.

But in the panic the passer-by could not work out where he was and gave the fire service a neighbouring address.

He then stood in the middle of the road to flag the fire appliance down as thick black smoke continued to pour from the window around Mr Holding's head.

A fireman clambered up a ladder placed on the outside wall of the flat to give Mr Holding oxygen. Mr Holding was released from hospital this morning.