A LANDLORD was left fighting for breath after a chemical reaction flooded the toilets of his pub with toxic fumes and left him with just seconds to escape.

Today fire crews warned of the dangers of mixing chemicals and said Eugene Gates could have been seriously injured in the incident.

Mr Gates poured drain cleaner down the urinals at Horden's, in Livesey Branch Road, in Feniscowles, Blackburn, on Saturday afternoon.

But a chemical reaction with bleach, used by his wife Linda to clean the toilets earlier, led to the area being flooded with toxic fumes.

"The window is above the urinal and I opened that and got out straight away," said Mr Gates. "If I'd stopped there to try and sort it out I would have been dead for sure."

Firefighters wearing breathing equipment attended the scene with ambulance staff at 2.20pm on Saturday.

Mr Gates was taken Blackburn Royal Infirmary suffering from the effects of toxic fumes.

A spokesman for Blackburn Fire Station, which ventilated the scene, said the mixing of certain chemicals could result in a cloud of chlorine gas being formed. "It's very corrosive and if breathed in could severely affect parts of the body which have moisture, such as eyes, mouth and the lungs," he said. "It is also very toxic."

Mr Gates was given oxygen at hospital before discharging himself.

He added: "The fumes filled the room within seconds, my eyes were watering and I was coughing for about 10 minutes.

"My oxygen levels went right down and I was in hospital for about four hours."

Mr Gates said he used sulphuric acid to pour down the urinals which he admitted was "absent minded."

"I've worked in this trade for years and have been in the building trade and I know I shouldn't have poured it down," he said. "I won't be doing it again."

The pub was able to open for trade on Saturday night.