A PENSIONER had to be given oxygen after attempting to put out a chip pan fire.

The 67-year-old man had just returned from a holiday to celebrate his birthday when he left a chip pan on the heat.

The oil caught fire and he tried to put it out with a blanket.

However the blanket also caught fire.

The resident escaped the house in The Finches, Thundersley and called the fire brigade at about 7pm today.

Two crews from Hadleigh attended and put the flames out but the blaze destroyed his kitchen.

Sub officer Steve Kirkham said: "If the man had a smoke alarm he would have been alerted to the problem before the oil caught fire."

The man was treated at the scene by paramedics for smoke inhalation and singed hair.