SEVERAL cups of dishwater saved the lives of a Bury couple whose afternoon "on the town" nearly turned into a tragedy.

Quick thinking Station Officer Paul Myerscough ran into the kitchen of the house in Arley Avenue, Bury, and managed to extinguish a burning plastic bin by throwing water on it.

The senior firefighter then raced to the first floor bedroom and managed to wake a man who was sleeping off a boozy afternoon, and escorted him to safety.

Mr Myerscough told the Bury Times: "The man and his girlfriend were worse the wear for drink and had decided to go to bed on Wednesday afternoon to sleep it off.

"Before going upstairs, an ash-tray had been emptied in the kitchen bin but one of the cigarettes had not been properly extinguished."

The cigarette ignited the contents of the bin filling the kitchen with thick smoke.

Mr Myerscough said: "Fortunately, the couple had a working smoke alarm which woke the woman. She couldn't wake her boyfriend and had the presence of mind to close the kitchen door before phoning the fire brigade for help.

"The smoke alarm really did save the couple's lives."

Two fire crews attended the property and Mr Myerscough dealt with the fire.

He said: "The fire was contained in the kitchen and I did what was necessary to extinguish it. If we had been called any later then the hoses would have been used. The occupants were very lucky."

The couple did not require hospital treatment.