Susie came to the rescue when owner Cliff Harris put some chips on to fry and then went outside to work in his garage.

Deep in concentration in his classic car restoration workshop, Cliff lost track of time and the pan soon caught fire.

Susie was in her basket in the kitchen as smoke filled the room.

And while the smoke alarm went off, Cliff didn’t hear it and it was only when two-and-a-half-year-old Susie barked a warning to her owner that he realised something was wrong.

He ran back into the house in Sigginstone, near Cowbridge, to find flames licking up the kitchen wall.

Diabetic Cliff, 77, said: “I could hear Susie barking loudly and knew something must be wrong, because it was continuous and definitely a panicked bark.

“My culinary skills have always been suspect but I wasn’t expecting a disaster like that!”

After running through the smoke-filled kitchen and throwing a wet towel over the pan, Cliff called the fire service.

“When I got into the house I realised the smoke alarm was going off, but it was Susie I heard first.

“Within about 10 minutes the fire had really taken hold – it was very scary.”

Wife Shirley, 68, was out shopping with their daughter Cheryl when Cliff rang to tell them about the fire.

Shirley, 68, said: “Cheryl got a call on her mobile and Cliff said, ‘You had better come home straight away because I have set the kitchen on fire’.

“I honestly thought it was a joke to get me home quicker!”

She said cooking wasn’t something Cliff did a lot of, and he would be doing even less of it in future.

“He usually leaves it to me – and he’s certainly banned from the kitchen now!” Cliff said he owes his life to Susie, a retirement present from daughter Shirley-Ann.

He said: “I feel extremely lucky to have her because she has saved my life and our home.”

Daughter Cheryl, 46, said: “The fire service told us that the bungalow would have all gone up in flames if it was left a few minutes longer.

“So Susie has definitely earned her keep.”

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s head of community safety Martin Henderson said: “You should never leave cooking unattended as fire can get out of control very quickly, and don’t put water on a chip pan if it is on fire as it will make it worse.

“Mr Harris was lucky that the dog warned him of the fire in time." (Wales Online)