A British couple have told how they narrowly cheated death when a huge blaze engulfed their hotel just days into their £1,500 Turkish holiday.

Daniel and Christine Steel say they are ‘lucky to be alive' after they were woken up by ‘shouting and screaming' – unable to hear any smoke alarms after fire broke out at the four-star Grand Yazici Club Marmais Palace hotel.

They were forced to scramble barefoot across a hotel roof to escape the fire.

The couple, from Bradford, West Yorks., were then rushed to hospital due to smoke inhalation, just five days in to their nine-day stay.

Daniel said: "We were woken up by shouting and screaming, and we quickly realised there were dense smoke coming through our door."

"It came through the doorway and we couldn't get to the door, then. "

"It was just a proper nightmare, there were no fire alarms, no smoke alarms, no nothing."

"The hotel then went out in blackness and darkness, and then we had to climb over the balcony over the rails on to a little ledge."

"The tiles were breaking, and we had to scurry along to get right around."

Pensioner Daniel believes that he would have died had wife Christine not woken him up.

The terrified tourists' clothes were completely destroyed, meaning they were only left with what they were wearing during the escape.

The 69-year-old has also been left without his teeth, with his dentures destroyed in the fire.

Daniel said: "It was so close to death, it's just unbelievable. I don't know how we did it."

"I climbed over and the table I was standing on to climb over gave way a little bit, and I was left with my dangling in the air – it pulled all my ligaments."

"I had nowt on my feet, we had nothing – I was just in a dressing gown and I were in my shorts."

After a hospital stay, Daniel says the couple were taken back to their hotel room to gather their belongings, most of which were badly smoke damaged.

He said: "We had to climb five staircases back to where the fire was to get our belongings."

"We should never have gone back to that, because it looked horrific. When we got back to our rooms, everything in there were properly smoke damaged."

"We were left with no clothes for the rest of the holiday."

The incident is not the first time Daniel has encountered a devastating fire.

Back in May 1985, the Bradford City fan was at the club's Valley Parade stadium when a condemned stand broke out in a massive inferno, killing 56 people.

The fan, who helped pull people out from the fire, has been left with PTSD following the incident.

Daniel said: "While I was on the pitch, the heat was so tremendous it forced me back."

"There were people still trying to get out, that's why I feel guilty – I couldn't stay at that wall too long, because I were burning myself."

A Jet2holidays spokesperson said: "We can confirm that all occupants of the Grand Yazici Club Marmaris Palace, including Jet2holidays customers, were evacuated on Friday 4th April, following a fire in the boiler room. "
 
"We can confirm that three of our customers were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, however they were discharged that same day. We moved all customers to other properties, and our teams are continuing to provide assistance and support to everyone who requires it."
 
"We understand the hotelier and local authorities are carrying out a full investigation and we await the results of that."

Grand Yazici Hotels was contacted for comment.