AN elderly man was trapped in his bed after his ceiling collapsed under the weight of sailing magazines.

Richard Phillips, 79, who was trapped for more than 12 hours, amazingly escaped injury.

Mr Phillips kept about 50 boxes containing copies of Traditional Sail – A Panorama of Heritage in the loft of his home.

Carer Karen Waterhouse raised the alarm when visiting Mr Phillips yesterday at about 11am. She fetched neighbour Tony Piercy and called for help.

She said: “We couldn’t get the bedroom door open, because the ceiling had completely caved in.

“We just thought the worst had happened. We could hear him speak, but we couldn’t get to him so Tony smashed the door in, eventually, and that’s how we found him.

“There were boxes, bits of ceiling and joists, everything on top of him. It completely covered him and all you could see was a little bit of his head.” Mr Piercy said Mr Phillips had been very lucky to survive.

He said: “I came in and shouted and the bedroom door was shut.

“I heard him yell, so I said ‘come to the door’ and he said ‘I can’t, I’m in bed, trapped’.

“He couldn’t do anything.”

Firefighters and the urban search and rescue team rushed to the scene to free Mr Phillips, who had been trapped all night in his home in the house in Thistley Close, Goldhanger.

Leading firefighter Ian Smith, from Maldon fire station, said: “Firefighters formed a chain to remove the boxes from the man as quickly as possible.

“A paramedic assessed the gentleman and he was placed in the care of the ambulance service.

Mr Smith said: “Incidents like this show that people should not overload their lofts.”

Mr Phillips was freed by 11.45am.