An 85-year-old Colchester man used walking sticks to cut power to his cooker after a chip pan fire started.

Then Alfred Nickoll, whose Oaklands Avenue home was smoke and fire-damaged by the blaze, used damp towels to smother the flaming pan before neighbours spotted the smoke and came to help.

He was checked by paramedics but did not need treatment after the incident on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Nickoll said when he discovered the blaze he used two sticks, which he has to help him walk, to reach through the flames and flick the cooker's power switch.

Then he put some towels in a bowl of water and threw them over the pan one by one.

He praised his neighbours, who saw smoke and came to his aid, for the help they gave him during and after the fire.

By James Tute

Reporter's e-mail: james_tute@thisisessex.co.uk

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