A 69-year-old man suffered burns and smoke inhalation as the result of a fire which has left his Great Saling home uninhabitable.

Firefighters were called to the property in The Street shortly before 11.30pm on Saturday night. The fire started on the ground floor of the two storey detached house, spreading to the first floor and into the roof.

Crews fought the blaze throughout the night and had extinguished it by 6.15am yesterday (Sunday). Five fire engines were called to the scene and one remained behind to turn over and damp down any hot spots.

Senior divisional officer Mark Wilson, officer in charge at this incident, said: “Because of the rural location of this incident crews faced difficulties in establishing water supplies so more appliances were called in to help ensure there was enough water to deal with the incident.

“Crews worked hard throughout the night tackling this blaze and will be there for some time on Sunday to make sure that no hotspots remain.”

A full investigation will now be carried out to establish the cause of this fire.