A NINE-year-old paperboy saved the day when he smelt smoke coming from a house he was delivering to.

Ben Isherwood was praised by firefighters and thanked by the couple whose house he saved from serious damage.

The youngster, who has been delivering papers in Wilpshire and Langho with his mum, Stephanie, for three months, raised the alarm on Saturday afternoon.

As he went to push a paper through the letterbox of Frank and Agnes Corban’s home in St Mary’s Drive, Langho, he was greeted by a smell of smoke and the distant sound of a smoke alarm.

Ben ran to his mother and, after banging on the door to no avail, the pair alerted neighbours.

The Holy Soul’s pupil said: “The next door neighbour had a key so they went inside and found a pan burning on the cooker but no one inside the house.

“I do feel like I did something quite heroic because if I hadn’t come along it, the pan could have set the house on fire and all of their memories would have been lost.”

Mother-of-two Stephanie, who lives in Wilpshire, said: “I am very proud of Ben.

“We have smoke alarms at home and I’ve told him all about them so I’m pleased that he knows what to look out for and how to react. None of the neighbours had heard the alarm and Frank and Agnes had just gone for a walk, not realising that they’d left the pan on.”

Mr Corban said: “We are really grateful for what Ben did and I think he showed great foresight for a nine-year old.

“We were very lucky that he came along and raised the alarm because it could have been so much worse.”

Crew manager Stephen Horrocks from Hyndburn Fire Station, said: “We want to say a big well done to Ben.

“When we arrived at the scene, the pan was burning but it hadn’t set on fire but the potential was there.

“We often go to primary schools and teach fire safety and we always hope that it’s going to make a difference.

“He acted very sensibly and did the right thing.”