A WOMAN had a lucky escape after fire tore through her flat in the early hours, say neighbours.

The blaze, caused by a faulty freezer, burned through the kitchen of the home in Main Street, Hallow, near Worcester, gutting the room and trapping a man in the first floor flat.

He was eventually brought down the stairwell and taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation.

However, a cat from the first floor flat died in the blaze, which started at about 2.15am yesterday.

Martin Price, who lives next door in the same block, said he was woken by the women who lives in the flat next door, telling him there was a fire.

“I was in bed when one of the girls from the flat told me to get out,” said Mr Price.

“She had been asleep in her room at the back of the flat and her friend was staying on the sofa.

“The girl who lives there was really lucky her friend was staying over.

“If her friend hadn’t been there and woken up, she wouldn’t have known and would have been trapped.

“It was bad – there was a lot of smoke.

“The fire brigade put a ladder up to talk to the man upstairs and spoke to him through the window.

“Then the stairwell was cleared, and he came down that way.”

The man was taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Mr Price said he returned the next day to the flat, and described the damage from the smoke and flames.

“As you go in the flat the whole kitchen is gutted,” he said.

“The living room area is just so bad it all needs re-doing.

“The heat from the fire was so much it melted the smoke alarm on the first floor.”

Station Commander Ian Jallands, of Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This was a serious fire.

“Sadly, a cat from the ground floor flat died during the incident and the occupant of an upstairs flat needed treatment after inhaling smoke.

“However, the smoke doors fitted at the premises were effective in preventing further fire spreading throughout the building.”