A SMOKER had a "lucky escape" after setting fire to bedding when he fell asleep while smoking.

Fire crews in Blackburn were called to the home in New Wellington Street, Mill Hill, at 2.30am, following reports of a blaze.

A spokesman for the station said the man had gone to bed and lit a cigarette but had then fallen asleep. The cigarette then ignited bedding and the mattress.

The spokesman said: "He was a very lucky man, it is so dangerous to smoke in bed because something like this can happen."

The man was not injured in the blaze after awaking soon after the fire began. His bed was fire damaged and his room were smoke damaged.