A blaze gutted a bedroom and caused severe smoke damage to the first floor of a house.

Firefighters - some wearing breathing apparatus - took about 20 minutes to bring the inferno under control.

Following last night's incident, at a semi-detached house in Heather Grove, Keighley, fire service chiefs stressed the importance of having smoke detectors installed.

Steve Spencer, a watch manager at Keighley Fire Station, said: "In this instance no detectors were fitted - had they been, the occupants would have been alerted to the situation much sooner and the damage could have been considerably reduced.

"When we arrived, the bedroom was well alight and there was thick black smoke. We managed to restrict the fire to the bedroom but it was severely damaged."

Two crews attended the incident, at about 11.40pm, and used a hose reel to tackle the blaze. A special ventilation fan was brought in to help clear the smoke.

A male occupant of the house was taken to Airedale Hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.

A Red Cross victim support vehicle, based at Idle, also attended.

It is believed the fire may have been caused by a fault in an electrical appliance.