Man accidentally burns down flat after setting up hundreds of tea light candles for romantic proposal

A man accidentally burned down his flat after planing a romantic marriage proposal with hundreds of tea light candles.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service posted a picture of the man's destroyed flat on social media to share an "important lesson" about candle use.

Three crews responded to reports of a blaze in Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, at 8.30pm on Monday.

The man had just left his flat to pick up his girlfriend for the "big moment" said the fire rescue service.

When the couple returned, instead of a romantic scene with hundreds of tea light candles, balloons and a bottle of wine, the man discovered his flat was on fire.

"This was going to be the scene of a romantic proposal and the occupant, a chap who we shall not name, had really gone to town," said the fire and rescue service in a Twitter thread.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service encouraged social media users to look closely at the burnt remains in the flat.

"The culprit? Yep, you guessed it, the tea lights (Look closely and you'll see them)," said the fire service.

They added that no one was injured and despite the fire, the woman said yes.

One Twitter user shared the post on Twitter and joked: "Romance 1 - Common sense 0".

Another said: "Oh no! Best laid plans etc - though apparently she still said 'yes'!"

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service warned people to always properly extinguish candles, not to leave them near flammable items like curtains and not to "leave 100s of tea lights unattended".