A 92-year-old man was taken to hospital after being rescued by firefighters from a house fire in Selby.

The man was rescued from a bungalow in Deeping Way, off Flaxley Road, early yesterday.

A spokeswoman from North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue service said the fire had been contained to the kitchen of the property, and was caused by cooking left unattended.

One of the man’s neighbours told The Press: “It was about 12.40am when I saw the blue flashing lights outside and saw two fire engines parked on opposite sides of the street outside his house.

“I saw firemen wearing breathing apparatus heading into the bungalow, then I could see powerful torches inside the house.

“I saw him being brought out by two paramedics.

“He was still walking, but with assistance.

“They had to help him into the ambulance which was parked a little way down the road, because the fire engines were outside his house. It sounds like he’s had a lucky escape.”

Two appliances from Selby were sent to the incident, which caused about a square metre of fire damage and about 20 square metres of smoke damage to the property.

Firefighters used a hose reel jet and breathing apparatus to fight the fire and rescue the man.

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service confirmed paramedics were sent to the incident and took a man to York Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, but he was released yesterday afternoon.