BAR staff kicked down the doors of a flat as its windows exploded in a fire in Weymouth town centre.

The blaze broke out in the bathroom of a first floor flat in Bond Street after the owner Brian Thomson went out and left a candle burning.

His pet dog was left at home and was rescued by firefighters through a window.

Two fire crews from Weymouth responded just after 1pm yesterday.

Crew manager Nicholas Rodway said: “We gained forced entry to a first floor flat and extinguished a fire in the bathroom and rescued a dog.

“The occupant went out at around 10.30am and left a small tealight candle on the bathroom sink, which we believe is the cause of the fire.

“There are built-in smoke detectors but we are not absolutely sure if they are working.”

Flat owner Mr Thomson, 48, said: “I want to thank the boy who went in for saving my dog.

“She is a little bit stressed and she’s shaking.

“No one has been hurt and I’m not fussy about anything else being damaged.”

The 18-year-old Lurcher cross, called Hannah, received oxygen and was checked over by an RSPCA vet.

Stuart Lee, barman and doorman at the Dorothy Inn, New Street, leapt into action when the bathroom window exploded and smoke began billowing out.

He said: “I kicked the door in and ran up the stairs. I felt the door of the flat to see if it was hot and it wasn’t.

“I was under the impression someone was in there and everybody was shouting at me to get out. I was getting ready to kick the door in as the fire engines turned up.”

The emergency call was made by Matt Brookes, 25, co-owner of MK Models, which is on the ground floor of the block of flats.

He said: “I was outside the shop and heard the window come through.

“I looked up and saw the smoke and flames coming from the side window and rang 999. I knocked on all the doors of the flats because I didn’t know who was in.”

Joan Franklin, 25, who lives in the third floor flat, said: “I heard a massive bang and all the glass smashing.

“I didn’t know what was going on, so I grabbed my coat and got out.”

Michael Croydon, 19, witnessed the fire from Bar 2012, opposite.

He said: “I heard a big smash and thought someone had dropped glass on the floor. On closer inspection we saw an explosion from the window.”

The fire and rescue service has sent out warning messages.

Group manager Roy Pinder said: “We don’t believe the smoke detectors in this flat were necessarily working – if they had been, they might have alerted someone who was passing by earlier.

“Tealights have the potential to be very dangerous, as proven here where one on the side of a basin caused a fire.”