A Bradford man today told how his cat saved his life by waking him up as a fire raged downstairs.

David Simpson, 56, pictured, crawled to safety after his cat Teabag jumped on his bed and screeched to awake him following the suspected arson attack.

The semi-detached house, in Oaks Lane, Lower Grange, was filled with poisonous black smoke when Mr Simpson eventually made his escape at 4.10am on Sunday. He later found that several items of property, including a television he had bought just three days earlier, had been stolen.

Today Mr Simpson said he was just grateful to have survived the fire, which police are treating as suspicious.

And he said he owed his life to the actions of his three-year-old cat.

"I was fast asleep and the next thing I knew my cat was screaming, jumping up and down, and running up and down the stairs," he said.

"I know that if she gets up there must be something wrong.

"I got up and there was a really strong smell of plastic, and as I went downstairs I realised there must be something on fire. The living room was full of black smoke and I could see the chair was well on fire."

Mr Simpson escaped out of the back door before raising the alarm with neighbours.

He said: "I would have been dead if it wasn't for the cat because I could not have got out of the upstairs bedroom if the fire had been any worse. The cat has saved my life."

Firefighters from Bradford and the Fairweather Green station, which is just yards from the house, attended the blaze.

Sub-officer Andy Newman said: "This was a serious fire in an old-style chair filled with foam which threw out a tremendous amount of black, poisonous smoke.

Police officers are appealing to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area to contact them on (01274) 376259.