11 December 2011 Last updated at 20:23 ET

London Fire Brigade Christmas campaign targets cooking

The campaign encourages people to buy takeaways rather than cooking

People who return from a night out and start cooking while drunk have become the targets of a Christmas safety campaign by London Fire Brigade (LFB).

Well-educated professional under-35s cause a quarter of accidental house fires in the city, it said, many after drinking during the evening.

They are being encouraged to bring back a takeaway instead of making meals.

"Don't go home thinking you're on MasterChef," said LFB Commissioner Ron Dobson, referring to the BBC programme.

"Too many fires start when someone has passed out, leaving a pizza in the oven or a pan on the hob, and it can be fatal," he added.

LFB said it had studied three years of data on the causes of blazes around London.

It found 25% of the 18,000 emergencies were started by young people who were generally living in smart rented flats, earned more than £40,000 a year and had university degrees.

An advertising campaign is being launched this week in several Tube stations, with some posters featuring the slogan "last night a burger saved my life".