Safety warning after dog trapped in house fire

The small dog was said to be lucky to be alive after the fire at a house on Bedford Gardens in Hindley this afternoon.

There was no-one in the semi-detached property at the time, but a neighbour raised the alarm by calling the fire service at 3.15pm today.

Crews from Hindley, Wigan and Atherton found the dog in a cage in the kitchen.

Craig Cubbins, crew manager at Hindley fire station, said: "It was really lucky it survived because the smoke was right down to the ground level."

The house was fully smoke-logged, but crews worked to make sure the fire did not spread further.

A faulty tumble dryer is thought to have been the cause of the blaze.

Mr Cubbins said: "It looks as though a tumble dryer has been left on unattended. I always stress the importance of not leaving electrical goods on while people are not in the house.

"It seems it was an old appliance so I would ask people to make sure that their electrical goods are in good working order and not to leave them unattended."