A 44-year-old man was hauled to safety from his fire-ravaged Whitefield shop after being discovered slumped on the floor.

Mr Philip Gordon was had been overcome by fumes following a blaze in the upstairs section of his pram shop in Bury Old Road, near Kirkham's Garage, on Tuesday (September 23) afternoon.

He was dragged to safety by Ian Wilks and Marc Cooper who run a neighbouring delicatessen shop.

And their efforts have been praised by fire chiefs who said the pair acted courageously.

Mr Cooper and Mr Wilks, alerted by the blaze, ran to the fire-ravaged premises, kicked down a rear door before discovering Mr Gordon at the bottom of the stairs.

They took the injured man outside to await the arrival of paramedics.

Apart from being overcome by fumes, Mr Gordon had also sustained a broken nose and fractured arm, believed to have been caused by a fall. Fire crews from Whitefield, Agecroft and Broughton spent almost an hour-and-a-half at the blaze scene.

The fire was confined to the first floor where a storeroom and contents were destroyed and the remainder was heavily smoke-logged.

Mr Cooper and Mr Wilks declined to talk about their heroic rescue efforts.

Investigations into the cause of the blaze are continuing.

Mr Gordon was taken to North Manchester General Hospital for treatment but was later allowed home.

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