AN ELDERLY man was rescued from his smoke-logged bungalow.

Firefighters had to drag the man, in his eighties, out of the property in King Henry Drive, Rochford, after they were called just before 4pm today.

The alarm had been raised by Careline which had been installed in the bungalow after the man’s dinner had caught light.

When crews from Southend and Rochford arrived, they had the access code for the front door but couldn’t get in as the man was collapsed against the it.

They forced entry through the back door and firefighter Stephen Valentine carried the man to safety.

He was conscious and breathing and was given oxygen by the firefighters before being taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Station Officer Steve Parker, from Southend fire station, said: “Careline could hear someone in the background but couldn’t raise the guy to talk to him. He had been overcome by the smoke and collapsed at the front door. There wasn’t much of a fire but the house was filled with smoke.

“We ventilated the house, some of the pots had melted on the stove and that had caused the smoke.”