A COUPLE from west Wirral have told how they narrowly cheated death when their home filled with poisonous carbon monoxide gas.

Stan Bishton and his wife, Irene, were rescued in time – but even one of the paramedics that saved them almost collapsed from the effects of the fumes.

The couple had been feeling unwell for more than a week as a result of being exposed to the lethal gas caused by a blocked flue on their central heating boiler.

The pair were saved when Irene's sister found her slumped on the floor of their semi-detache house. Her husband, Stan, was unconscious from the effects of the gas upstairs in bed.

It was only when ambulance crews arrived and also began to feel unwell that they realised there was probably carbon monoxide in the house.

Now the couple are warning householders everywhere that they should fit carbon monoxide alarms and get gas appliances serviced before the winter sets in.

Mr Bishton said: "My wife felt odd when she got up in the morning. She was unsteady on her feet. She started to stagger and then she collapsed. I was still in bed and thought I was okay, but when I tried to dial 999 I couldn’t do it. I had been overcome without realising it."

"I don’t remember the ambulance men lifting me out of bed, but I remember them putting me in the ambulance, so I must have started to recover as soon as I was removed from the property.”