TWO elderly ladies from Atherton had the chance to tell firemen: "Thank you very much for saving our lives."

The pensioners from Woodlands House Residential Home were rescued from their beds after fire broke out in their bedrooms in the early hours of last Thursday. Firemen carried them from their beds and gave them oxygen treatment before they were taken by ambulance for treatment at the Royal Bolton Hospital for smoke inhalation.

Ninety-year-old Nellie Counsell -- who has a heart and lung problem -- and 85-year-old Alice Dean recovered and were sent back to the home on Woodlands Drive, Atherton, on Saturday. And this week, the firemen popped in to check that the ladies were feeling better -- and were given a big thank you from all the staff and residents at the home. The fire broke out in a faulty fan extractor in a bathroom and spread underneath the ceiling of one of a ground floor bedroom.

The home said the two ladies were now fine and were in temporary rooms in the home until the two damaged bedrooms were refurbished.

We have been asked to point out following last week's report of the fire that Mrs Counsell's nephew Stewart Cartwright is no longer working as a care worker after retiring due to medical reasons.