A BIN man helped prevent a serious flat fire, after spotting smoke billowing out of the letter box.

Mark Scott, 43, usually a green waste loader, was covering bin loading duties in Darwen, when he became aware of a problem on the second floor of a block of flats in Ellenshaw Close.

He said: “I was doing my usual job, collecting the bags, when I heard a fire alarm going off, and I went to investigate.

“I found a flat on the second floor with smoke coming out of the letter box, so I knocked on all of the surrounding doors and got people out. I’d had some fire training, so I knew what to do.

“The letter box was getting very hot and at that point I didn’t know whether anyone was in the flat, so I called for emergency help.”

Firefighters from Darwen’s Red Watch arrived at the scene at 10.30am on Wednesday, and smashed their way through the door to gain entry.

The flat was empty, and the cause of the fire - an over-heated chip pan - was quickly identified. The fire destroyed the pan and contents, severely smoke-damaged the kitchen, and moderately smoke-damaged the rest of the property.

Mark, who has worked for Blackburn with Darwen Council for 18 months, said: “The owner of the flat came back as we were still there, sorting the fire out. He said he’d only nipped into town for 10 minutes. He was very grateful.

“The firefighters said I’d done the right thing, and that swift action could have saved not only the flat, but the whole block.”

Lancashire's Chief Fire Officer, Peter Holland, said: "Mark's intervention was crucial and was absolutely magnificent.”