A MAN was pulled out of his his flat by firefighters after falling asleep while cooking.

Crews were called to Ranger Walk, Colchester, after a neighbour had heard a smoke alarm sounding from a nearby flat in the early hours of the morning.

There was no response from anyone inside so the crews made their way into the property and helped the man in his 40s out from inside the flat.

The fire was put out within half an hour of the crews arriving shortly before 2.15am yesterday.

Crews managed to restrict the damage from the smoke to the kitchen.

Then man said he had been watching a film when he fell asleep.

He said: “There was not much of a fire, just quite a lot of smoke.

“I had put a couple of chips on for a snack, sat down on the couch and then fell asleep.

“The next thing I know I was outside with the fire brigade.

“The neighbour called 999 because they had heard the smoke alarm going off for a while and there was nobody responding to it.

“Because I didn’t hear it and then didn’t hear them knocking at the door they had to get in themselves.”

He added: “The cooker has a timer on it so it switches itself off so there was never any real danger.”

The cause of the fire was confirmed as the cooking which had been left in the oven while the man was asleep.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service advise people not to start cooking when they believe they are tired and may fall asleep and should think about visiting takeaways instead.

Other cooking safety advice includes taking care if you need to leave the kitchen whilst cooking, by removing pans off the heat or turning them down and double checking appliances are off.