A FIRE service chief is urging people not to risk their lives for the sake of tastier chips.

The traditional method of cooking chips - lowering a metal basket into a pan of hot cooking oil - is the most common cause of house fires in the UK. County Fire Officer Barry Dixon says it should now be consigned to history.

In 2007, there were 418 accidental fires in homes across Greater Manchester caused by chip pans. In 181 cases people needed medical treatment ranging from oxygen therapy on hospitalisation for severe burns.

But the message that chip pans are lethal, especially when put on after a night out drinking, appears to be getting across.

No one died last year, compared with three fatalities in 2006. And there were twice as many chip pan fires and injuries in 2005, when fire fighters were called to 1,096 such fires, recording 568 injuries and three fatalities.

Mr Dixon said: "It would seem that most people's excuse for having a chip pan is that the chips taste better.

"I would question whether they taste good enough to die for.

Distracted

"It's all too easy for someone to put a chip pan on, get distracted or fall asleep resulting in a fire occurring with sometimes tragic consequences."

Across the UK, there are some 12,000 chip pan fires every year, with more than 1,000 considered serious. There are usually more than 4,500 injuries and around 50 deaths.

Chip pan fires occur because either the oil or fat overheats and catches fire. They can also spill onto the cooker, either because the pan has been filled to high, or because wet chips are put into hot oil, causing it to bubble and overflow.

Trying to extinguish one with water can cause a fireball, and the Greater Manchester Fire Service no longer provides advice on how to tackle these types of fire, instead advising people to turn off the heat if safe to do so, shut the door, call 999 and leave.

The appeal comes just before National Chip Week, from February 11 to 17.

For a free fire safety check call 0800 555815 or visit manchesterfire.gov.uk .

Fire Service Advice

Only cook chips in a deep fat fryer with a thermostatic control or try oven chips instead

Never leave cooking unattended

Never cook food after returning home from a night out at the pub, or when you have had a drink

If there is a fire, turn off the heat if it is safe to do so, close the door on the fire, make sure everyone in the house is aware of the fire, dial 999 and get out

Always remember `get out, stay out, call us out'

Make sure there is a working smoke alarm upstairs and downstairs