A PENSIONER had a lucky escape when an overheating spotlight caused a fire in the roof space of her home.

Hetty Telford, 85, who has been left homeless, walked out of her Heideburg Road home after the electrics cut out, not realising the power had been lost because the blaze in the roof had destroyed the cables.

The truth only became clear when a neighbour stopped to ask her why she was outside her home and noticed the smoke coming out from underneath the roof of her bungalow.

Firefighters from Canvey and Rayleigh Weir were called to the scene and spent two hours fighting the fire.

Mrs Telford’s daughter Jacqueline Lea, who lives round the corner from her in Canvey, rushed round to see her after being told about the incident.

She said her mother, who was in the kitchen at the time, was saved by the fact that the smoke went upwards and did not fill her kitchen, meaning she was completely unaware of the fire until she ventured outside.

She added the flames had melted the water tank in the roof, causing water to come down through the ceiling and into the bungalow’s living room.

She said: “She came out because she thought there was a power cut and thank God she came out because of that. We are just concerned about the roof.”

Roof tiles also had to be ripped off by the fire crews to enable them to extinguish the fire, which had started in the spotlight in the kitchen. There was also evidence of charring on the outside of the roof.

Insurance assessors were due to visit the bungalow on Friday, but the damage had rendered it uninhabitable meaning Mrs Telford, who used to work as a dinner lady, would have to stay temporarily with relatives.

She came originally from London, but has lived in Upminster and Romford before moving to Canvey.