FIRE chiefs have warned householders to regularly check smoke alarms after a man and his dog died in a flat blaze early on Saturday.

Three other people had to be rescued from the fire in a first-floor flat in Falsgrave Road, Scarborough, shortly after 4am.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "It is vital not only that smoke alarms are installed in homes, but that they are checked regularly and new batteries put in."

He said that while the cause of the blaze was still being investigated, the victim, a man in his 30s, is thought to have died from smoke inhalation.

Two men and a woman were rescued from the flat behind a fish and chip shop and another ground floor flat was also damaged in the fire.