The fire was started on Crabtree in Paston Ridings at 8.10pm on Monday, when a pile of rubbish leaning against the house was set alight.

At the time Natalie Bunting (24) was upstairs listening to music, oblivious to the blaze downstairs.

But neighbour Dawn Reeve (36), spotted the fire while watching TV and alerted her daughter's fiancé to the drama.

Without thinking of his own safety, 22-year-old Alex Baisden, from Paston, rushed to the rescue of the trapped woman, smashing through the doors to lead her to safety out the back of the house.

Today, Mr Baisden's fiancée was full of praise for his actions.

Hayley Reeve said: "At first I was annoyed at him for going in, but now I think he is really brave.

"It is the sort of thing we expect from him."

And Miss Bunting's sister, Audra Charnock, also had praise for her neighbour's actions. She said: "He was very heroic. I couldn't believe what he had done. When I got home I didn't know how to thank him so I just gave him a packet of tobacco.

"Natalie is still a bit shaken up. She was very scared when she saw all the smoke."

Now the carpenter has said he wants to join the fire service after his heroics.

Hayley (16) added: "He has said he wants to be a firefighter now, like his step dad. Alex was brilliant."

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were able to tackle the blaze using a hose reel, and had the flames under control at 8.30pm.

The front door and kitchen window were extensively damaged by the fire, and there was also smoke damage to the kitchen.

The fire was similar to an incident in January, when three men had to leap from an upstairs window after firebugs pushed a burning wheelie bin against the front door of their house in the middle of the night.

Last year bin fires cost taxpayers more than £127,000, after the fire service was called to nearly 400 incidents in one year.

And Hayley Buzzell, a spokeswoman for the fire service, said: "People should not put their bins or rubbish out before the day they are meant to be collected, and keep them locked out of sight and away from temptation from arsonists for the rest of the time."

Police officers are currently investigating the blaze and are urging witnesses to come forward.

Anyone with information about the fire should call police on 0845 456 4564, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.