THE two friends dramatically saved from the first floor of their blazing home yesterday have sent a message of thanks to their rescuers.

Pete Lyon, 23 and Roy Etherington, 27, of Spring Street, Rishton, face a bill of thousands of pounds after fire destroyed much of their house.

They were rescued by neighbour Andrew Glancey, who brought a ladder from his back yard to help the terrified men climb down into the street.

Labourer Mr Etherington said: "At about 1.45am, I opened my bedroom door and saw smoke coming from downstairs.

"When I went into Pete's room, he was bent over his bed because the smoke had affected him.

"We couldn't go downstairs because of the smoke, so we decided to throw the television out of the bedroom window.

"Then we grabbed a mattress and threw it out of the window to cushion our fall but, luckily, Andy came to our help with a ladder.

He added: "I would like to thank Andy and the motorist who raised the alarm. They almost certainly saved our lives."