A BURY councillor feared he was going to lose his house after the roof caught fire during an operation to remove a wasps' nest.

Councillor Jack Walton praised fire crews for stopping the flames spreading further after his roof was partly destroyed and two bedrooms damaged in the freak accident.

Flames from a blowlamp set fire to material at his home in Sunny Bank Road on Friday morning (Oct 11), causing 50 per cent damage to the roof.

A 29-year-old man, one of two workmen at the property, was treated in hospital for burns to his hands. The house also sustained further heat and water damage.

Mr Walton, a Conservative representative for Church ward, and member of Stand Cricket Club, said: "An upper bedroom was virtually destroyed and a rear bedroom virtually gutted. There was also water damage to a couple of rooms below and damage caused by smoke.

"I was convinced I was going to lose the whole house. But the fire brigade were brilliant. They were here very quickly after apparently being alerted by a neighbour."

Fire crews from Bury, Whitefield and Heywood tackled the blaze and were joined at the scene by an emergency salvage tender.

Sub-officer Steve Simpson of Whitefield fire station said: "As far as we were aware, workmen on a ladder were trying to get rid of a wasps' nest below the roof and had been using the blowlamp to burn the wasps as they came out.

"We believe a flame came into contact with flammable material below the tiles. We arrived in the nick of time to stop the fire spreading to the remainder of the house. About half of the roof was destroyed in the fire."

Officers, who were at the scene for two hours, gave treatment to the injured workman before he was taken to hospital.

Following the blaze, contractors were at the house to carry out urgent re-building work.