A car fire nearly killed a man when flames blocked his door and filled his flat with smoke.

The Fiat Uno was parked so close to the door of 23-year-old James Markam's flat in Burdett Avenue, Westcliff, that he was unable to get past the car to safety.

When firefighters arrived at what they thought was a straightforward car fire, they found Mr Markam hanging from his front window gasping for air.

Fire service spokesman Sub Officer David Hadjicostas said the incident on Sunday afternoon could have turned particularly nasty.

He said: "Someone has parked the car up the alley, it was torched, and because they had parked it so close to someone's door, he couldn't get out.

"There was only one way out of the flats, which are above shops, and had this happened when there would have been nobody around to see it, we could have been dealing with something completely different."

Mr Hadjicostas added the alarm was raised by Mr Markam's sister, who lives a few doors away and who spotted the fire. He continued: "The person was distressed when we found him.

"He was at the front of his property trying to breathe, and he had no way out, other than the staircase which was full of thick black smoke.

"He was asleep at the time and if his sister hadn't told us he was in there we would not have come looking for him. As soon as we arrived, she grabbed hold of me and said 'I think my brother's in there'."

Mr Markam was treated by ambulance crews but refused hospital treatment.

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