A father rushed to a fire station in just his boxer shorts after a tree caught fire in his front garden.

And firefighters did not even bat an eyelid when Richard Davis turned up asking for help.

Mr Davis, of Galleywood Road, Chelmsford, dashed to Great Baddow fire station after a passing motorist alerted him to the burning 20ft conifer at about 5.45am yesterday (Wednesday).

He realised the blaze was not going to reach his house, where his wife, Cara, and two young children Abigail and Sam were, but decided to drive to the fire station anyway.

Mr Davis said: "I just thought I'd got to get to the fire station.

"It was an emergency."

It is thought the fire started when a branch of the tree cut through a power cable. The cable then dangled dangerously near the house before electricity engineers made it safe.

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