UPDATE: Mum and baby taken to hospital after fire

Flames engulfed a mid-terrace house on Church Road in Stanley at around 2pm on Wednesday and smoke billowed across nearby houses.

Crews from Wakefield, Rothwell and Normanton were called to extinguish the blaze.

A spokesman from Wakefield Fire Station said: “Flames were coming out the back of the kitchen window and door and smoke was blowing towards the front of the house and covering the surrounding area.

“We believe that a man who lived in the property had tried to put out the flames with a cushion. But he got out through the back door.”

The spokesman said nobody was in the house when they arrived.

He added: “The mum and baby were in a neighbouring property but there was so much smoke in the area which they had breathed in.”

The man refused medical treatment for smoke inhalation.

The house was left badly damaged by the fire.

The spokesman said: “We don’t know yet what caused the fire but believe it may have been the cooker.

“Everything seemed to aid its spread and the downstairs of the house is a complete write off.”