A 11-year-old boy risked his life to save a pensioner from a burning house.

Jonathan Hogan, who attends St Gabriel's High School in Bury, fought his way through a smoke-filled kitchen to lead the elderly man to safety.

The drama happened when Jonathan was heading out for a bike ride and spotted smoke billowing from a house in Blackburn Road, Rising Bridge, Haslingden.

The youngster, who lives at the Holden Arms in Grane Road, Helmshore, had been calling for his friend when he heard the man shouting from inside his house, and ditched his bike to help out.

Jonathan said: "I heard the man and knew I had to do something. I just wanted to save him, but I was a little bit scared."

The brave lad went through the front door of the house and saw that the kitchen was ablaze. The man was standing near the front of the house, and Jonathan guided him through the smoke and sat him on the wall outside.

And after covering him with his coat, the Year Seven pupil raced to the nearest telephone box to call the emergency services.

The fire gutted the kitchen but the man, thought to be in his 60s, suffered only from the effects of smoke inhalation.

The remainder of the house was badly smoke damaged.

The fire, which happened around 2pm on Sunday, March 31, was thought to have been started by an electrical fault in the kitchen.

The fire service has praised Jonathan for his bravery but said they would not have advised the youngster to go into the burning house. However, they now plan to reward him for his actions.

Sub-officer Steve Harrison, from Accrington Fire station, who dealt with the incident said: "The elderly gentleman was very lucky that he wasn't injured more in the house fire. Jonathan did a sterling job, although we don't advise people to go into burning buildings. But this was a very brave thing to do."

Miss Catherine Wild, head of Year Seven at St Gabriel's, in Bridge Road, said: "We are so proud of Jonathan. It is all too often that children today are in bother.

"It's wonderful when something like this happens and it shows what a thoughtful young man Jonathan is."

Fellow pupil David Street was praised by the school last week after he rescued an 18-month-old toddler he spotted wandering along a railway line in Bury.