A Rose Hill man has thanked the firefighters who broke into his smoke- filled home to save his life.

Wayne Randall, 39, fell asleep on the sofa in his Ashurst Way flat after putting some spring rolls into the oven for dinner.

The next thing he knew he was being rescued by a fire crew.

Mr Randall said: “I must have been asleep for three hours.

“When I woke up my flat was engulfed in smoke and the firemen had broken in to rescue me.

“But I never got a chance to thank them. They were very good and very professional.

“We take the fire service for granted but they saved my life.”

Mr Randall has a smoke alarm but it was behind a shut door in the hall and did not wake him up.

He said: “If I had one in the living room it could have woken me up. I have learnt a massive lesson from this.”

Mr Randall is on medication for a muscle-wasting disease which made him drowsy.

After putting some food in the over he settled down to watch Emmerdale and the next thing he knew he was being led to safety by firemen.

He said: “The smoke was thick and black. I could not see anything.

“I have got smoke stains all over my home and the place still wreaks of smoke.

“I had to live in a bed and breakfast for the weekend to get away from it.

“I am lucky. I got away with minimal damage.”

The alarm had been raised by a passer-by but My Randall, who is a carpenter, has not been able to find out who it was.

He said: “The person who raised the alarm needs thanking as well.

“I have asked who rang the fire service but it’s hard to find out.”

The fire service were called to Ashurst Way at about 10.30pm on Wednesday last week.

Mr Randall was treated at the scene by paramedics and is still suffering from sore lungs after inhaling smoke.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which was confined to the oven, and used fans to blow the smoke out of the flat.

Fire service watch manager Shaun Betts said Mr Randall had a very lucky escape.

He added: “If the passer-by had not acted so swiftly the fire may have got out of control and we could have been faced with a fully developed fire with someone still inside.”