A 91-year-old woman owes her life to her Helston neighbours after her house began filling with acrid smoke as she slept.

The pensioner from Trelawney Road, known only as Nelly, had been unaware of the fire that had broken out in the electrical box on the outside of her home – with the smoke pouring inside.

It was only after 26-year-old neighbour Ash Stidwell, a paramedic locally, had returned home from a night out, at 1.40am on Sunday, that he smelt smoke through his open window and heard the smoke alarm from the next door property sounding through his bedroom wall.

He raised the alarm, heading next door with his stepfather Darren Thomas while his mum, Helen Stidwell, called 999.

Darren, manager of Booths Printers in Penryn, told the Packet: “Ash went to the front door and I went to the back. We were both knocking quite loudly a good few minutes. “I looked in through the kitchen window and could see the kitchen was full of smoke going into the hallway.

“Ash joined me at the back and we were knocking and shouting, but there was no answer. We were just about to try to kick the door down when her bedroom light came on.

“She managed to open the door, but she was quite shocked.”

They took Nelly back to their house next door while they waited for the fire service to arrive, and managed to contact her family to collect her.

Firefighters from Helston and Mullion used a powder extinguisher to put out the fire, before Western Power made the electrics safe and restored power to the house.

It is understood that Nelly had heard the smoke alarm go off, but could not see the reason or smell any smoke and though they were faulty.

Keith Stringer, station manager at Helston Fire Station, praised the work of Ash and Darren, saying: “The actions of the neighbours could have saved injury or worst to the occupier and damage to the property.

“They did a really good job and stopped what could have been a lot worse – potentially a life was in danger.”

He added that this case highlighted the importance of having working smoke alarms, saying: “They will save lives.”

Darren said: “It was just very lucky Ash came home when he did. If it was some isolated area with nobody else around, or nobody heard, I dread to think what could have happened.”