A QUICK-THINKING neighbour saved the day when a computer overheated and burst into flames in a Latchford house yesterday.

Seeing smoke coming from the conservatory on the Secker Avenue house, the neighbour ran in and threw the blazing monitor outside.

His actions stopped the fire from taking hold, a fire service spokesman said.

The neighbour smothered it with a wet blanket before throwing it out the back door.

It is thought that the computer, which was in a conservatory, had overheated due to an electrical fault.

The residents, a family of five, were all upstairs when the fire broke out and it was only due to smoke alarms that they were aware of the blaze.

The fire caused considerable damage to the conservatory, but that would have been far more severe had the neighbour not thrown the computer out the door.

The fire broke out at around 5.30pm.

A fire service spokesman reminded people to switch electrical appliances off when they were not using them.