FIREFIGHTERS are issuing a warning after a householder needed hospital treatment when a lit candle set fire to the stereo unit it had been placed on.

Sub Officer Nick Clough, from Rawtenstall Fire Station, warned householders that if they were using candles to light rooms they should make sure they were in proper holders and were on solid, non-combustible surfaces.

Chris Howe, 39, of Woodside Crescent, Newchurch, spotted the fire and put a towel over the stereo and carried it outside.

Mr Clough said: "It was still belching smoke and he got two good lungs full and was taken to Burnley General for a precautionary check.

"The candle was in a proper holder but when it burned down the heat cracked the holder and set fire to the stereo. It also damaged the TV which was next to the stereo."

Mr Howe's wife was in the house but fortunately their three children were not in the property.

Mr Clough said: "The property had no smoke detectors, but it does now after we fitted some."

The fire, at 7.30pm on Saturday, left the down stairs severely smoke damaged and the upstairs moderately damaged by smoke.

Firefighters used a ventilation unit to clear the smoke.