Firefighters were forced to break down a door last night after an Epsom man left his cooking on the stove.

Four engines rushed to the flat fire in Hollymoor Lane just before 2am this morning.

The flat had completely filled with smoke after a man, believed to be in his late 20s, put a pan on the stove and went out.

An Epsom firefighter said: “He’d left a pot on the cooker and gone out. We were preparing for the worst because at that time you think people might be asleep.

“I have no idea what he was cooking but there was a lot less of it when we arrived.

“He was very grateful when he got home.”