A 59-year-old man had to be rescued from his flat in Oxford this morning.

At 3am, crews from The Slade and Rewley Road fire stations were faced with a blaze in a ground-floor flat in Cowley Road.

Crews wearing specialist breathing kit and using a hose reel entered the building and extinguished the fire.

The 59-year-old rescued from the flat prior to their arrival was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

The alarm was raised by neighbours who heard the smoke alarm sounding.

The fire is believed to have been started accidentally by discarded “smoking materials” which set fire to bedding.

Watch manager Greg Bishop, of Oxfordshire fire and rescue service, said: “I can’t stress enough the importance of having working smoke alarms.

“If they were not fitted at this property the occupier’s injuries would have been far worse, if not fatal.”