A man risked his life in a failed attempt to save his dog from a blaze which ripped through a house where a couple with a six-month-old baby lived upstairs.

David Collyer, a removal van-man of Flaxley Road in St Helier, is reported to have left something cooking in the oven for Sunday lunch while he worked outside when the food caught fire.

From yesterday: Fire destroys St Helier flat and leaves man requiring hospital treatment

Greg Cysewski, a gardener who rents the upstairs flat with his wife and baby, said: "We came back from central London at about 2pm and the road was blocked with firefighters and police everywhere.

"There was no fire upstairs except the bathroom which has gone completely. The rest of the house is damaged by the smoke so it's covered in black soot.

"The firefighters said if it happened at night, we would be dead."

The blaze took hold at about 1.40pm on March 1 with strong winds causing the fire to spread through the property, the London Fire Brigade said.

Nick Weightman, 35, who lives next door to Mr Collyer, said: "I was watching NCIS on TV and I saw these clouds flying in front of the window.

"I looked out and I saw this black smoke and as I got to the window there was some people there and lots of fire.

Your Local Guardian:

A burnt teddy now discarded in the baby's room upstairs 

"I only saw the flames once. When I was standing outside I had to shout at my neighbour not to go back in. I think he was trying to save his dog.

"I went back inside and and shut the windows of my house and got my own dog. I was shouting at Dave to get out of the house.

"Just as I was putting a damp cloth over my face ready to grab him if he tried to go in the firefighters arrived."

Your Local Guardian:

Burnt out: the remains of the semi-detached house in Flaxley Road yesterday

Four fire engines from Sutton, Wimbledon and Mitcham fire stations attended and the cause of the fire, which took about an hour to extinguish, is believed to have been accidental.

Mr Collyer was taken to a south London hospital by the London Ambulance Service after he suffered slight smoke inhalation. But his five-year-old Border Collie Rocky did not survive the blaze.

A neighbhour, who did not want to be named, said: "He loved his dog. I should think he's tormented himself over that dog.

"It was like Oliver Twist's Bill Sykes and Bull’s Eye. Where he was the dog was. He was always a shy dog and maybe that's why he didn't come out.

"The firemen said we've found him but we'll take him out dignified. They were absolute sweethearts."