NEIGHBOURS who saved a pensioner from her blazing home today told how they were alerted by screams as flames took hold in her kitchen.Nancy Reynolds was carried out of her home by neighbour Steven Duckett who heard her calls from his house which backs on to her bungalow's garden.

NEIGHBOURS who saved a pensioner from her blazing home today told how they were alerted by screams as flames took hold in her kitchen.

Nancy Reynolds was carried out of her home by neighbour Steven Duckett who heard her calls from his house which backs on to her bungalow's garden.

The drama, at Oak Close in Great Finborough, Stowmarket, unfolded at teatime on Friday.

Mr Duckett, whose home in Middlefield Drive is behind Oak Close, heard her cries and dashed round to the house.

He said: “I looked up and saw what had happened and shouted to my wife to call the fire brigade while I ran around to the house.

“The lady was screaming in her kitchen. I went in and carried her out and she sat down on a wall.

“Another neighbour came out and we took her into his house until the fire and ambulance people came around.”

Mr Duckett only went into the house to bring Mrs Reynolds out.

“She said she had an inhaler in there, but I wasn't going back in for that. She told us there wasn't anyone else in there and that she didn't have any pets.

“She did have some problems with breathing and was taken to the hospital in Bury St Edmunds. My son then went and knocked on some other doors in Oak Lane to tell them what was happening.”

Mr Duckett and his family only moved into the village a month ago, so he did not know his neighbours well. “It's not the best way to meet people!” he said.

Mrs Reynold's next door neighbours did not know about the blaze until they saw the fire appliances and ambulance.

Delia Prior said her family was sitting down to eat when there was a knock at the door: “We were at the other end of our home so we didn't hear a thing until then. We had to all get out.

“Luckily the fire service prevented the fire from spreading into our house although the smoke did get into the loft space.

“There is a bit of a hole between our loft and next door's and the smoke had all got in there. Everything up there is very black and will need to be cleaned, but I don't think it is too badly damaged.”

Once the drama was sorted out her family boarded up the windows of the damaged bungalow to ensure the home was secure.