A dog owner may have put his life at risk when he returned to rescue his pets from his house after a fire.

The man was cooking at his house in Burrs Way, Corringham, on Wednesday, when he briefly left the house. When he returned he spotted the chip pan was alight.

Firstly he put out the flames by covering the pan with a damp cloth and turning off the heat.

However, he then went upstairs to check if his pet dogs were still in the house.

Sub officer Keith Hicks, of Corringham fire station, said the homeowner had left the doors to the kitchen open, allowing oxygen to fan the fire and cause it to re-ignite.

He added: "As the man came down the stairs he said the kitchen was belching out flames and he only managed to get out in time by a matter of seconds."

Fortunately the man escaped injury but it took four firefighters 30 minutes to tackle the flames.

Sub officer Hicks added that the dogs had already safely got out of the house.

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