Cheese on toast
London Fire Brigade says cheese on toast should not be made in a toaster

Firemen grilled the owner of a flat in Croydon whose hankering for some late night cheese on toast ended with flames engulfing his kitchen on Thursday.

Firefighters were called to the address in south London after the hapless resident had caerphilly tipped his toaster on its side to grill the cheese but only succeeded in burning the appliance and worktop at the same time.

After examining the de-brie, fire crew manager Nick Morley confessed: "I never thought I'd have to give this advice as it's painfully obvious but, if you want cheese on toast, use a grill not a toaster.

"Toasters are not designed to be put on their side and used to grill cheese on toast. Not only does it generate heat onto the work surface as we saw at this incident but the dry leftover crumbs from the bottom of the toaster can get on to the hot elements and ignite."