Neighbours have told of the terror of seeing a man turned into a human torch as he tried to escape a house fire.

Firefighters staged a dramatic rescue after the man, who suffered 90 per cent burns, was seen trying to escape the blaze which gutted the ground floor of his terraced home in Scholemoor Road, Lidget Green.

The man, who has not been named by emergency services, was transferred to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield for specialist treatment. Police and fire investigators are now probing the cause of the incident.

Mohammad Azad, a resident on the street, discovered the fire in the early hours of Saturday and raised the alarm before trying to enter the building through the front door.

As he forced open the door he was faced with billowing smoke and was able to make out the man, who to his horror was on fire, attempting to smash the glass in the back door.

Mr Azad, 37, said: "I called the fire service as soon as I saw the smoke.

"Then I went to check the front door and could see him at the back door on fire.

He looked as if he was trying to get out, but the curtains were alight as well by now. The smoke was really bad.

"When they took him out he was just curled up."

Mr Azad was alerted to the fire after he heard screaming coming from inside the house. He said: "It sounded like a lady, so I thought there might have been a domestic going on inside, but as soon as I went outside I could see all the smoke."

Crews from Fairweather Green and Odsal were called to the scene at 12.15am, along with paramedics who rushed the man, believed to be in his 40s, to Bradford Royal Infirmary.

He was later transferred to the specialist burns unit at Pinderfields hospital.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fire Service said an investigation had been launched into the cause of the blaze.

He said: "The gentleman was very seriously injured and therefore we always bring in the fire investigation unit and the police to fully investigate.

"The man was found in the lounge by the fire crews. We responded to the incident as a persons reported' and on arrival we were given information by a paramedic that someone was seen and could be heard in the house."

It is believed the man only moved into the area in the past week.

Mr Azad said: "The house was only bought about six months ago."

The crew smashed the upstairs windows and used positive pressure ventilation to clear the smoke-logged house.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed an investigation into the cause of the fire had been launched.