Michael Palin says he was saved by elderly neighbour after accidentally setting house on fire

Monty Python star was recovering from open-heart surgery when he says incident took place

Sir Michael Palin has joked that he was saved by an elderly neighbour after accidentally starting a fire in his home while recovering from surgery in a "comic column".

The Monty Python star wrote that he was relaxing after having open-heart surgery in September when he blew some kitchen roll into a naked flame while doing his breathing exercises.

He quipped he called emergency services but could not hear what they were saying due to the smoke alarm – but then realised he’d dialled 111 as opposed to 999 as he wasn’t wearing his glasses.

“I leapt up and grasped a hand towel, which briefly smothered the flames before itself catching alight,” Palin wrote in Idler magazine.

“In some alarm now, as flames licked up towards the ceiling, I dialled the emergency services – but the moment we connected, the smoke alarm went off and I couldn’t hear a word they were saying.

Palin continued: “[I] just caught something about washing my hands which made me realise that, without my glasses on, I’d rung 111 instead of 999. But I washed my hands anyway, and by a fantastic stroke of luck, the loose tap that we never had fixed finally came apart, dousing the ceiling and partially extinguishing the fire.”

Palin then jokingly noted that he was saved by a neighbour who has also had heart surgery the week before, adding: ”Thank God he’d been told to take it easy, otherwise he’d have been out playing golf and my house would have been a write-off.”

Palin underwent open-heart surgery in September 2019 to fix his mitral valve, a small flap that prevents blood from flowing in the wrong direction around the heart.

In January, Palin paid tribute to his good friend and Monty Python co-star Terry Jones, who died aged 77.

“He was kind, generous, supportive and passionate about living life to the full,” Palin said.

The Independent has updated this article – originally published based on wire copy from Press Association – after being informed that Palin's story "is a complete work of fiction, written by Palin for a regular comic column he contributes to the Idler magazine".

Additional reporting by Agencies