Striking firefighters in Woodstock were unable to save a pensioner from dying in a fire at his home even though they were at his house in Plane Tree Way in less than four minutes.

Firemen at the scene where an elderly man died

Neighbours, including the mayor of Woodstock Gwen Mason and her husband Keith, tried to rescue the man, but were beaten back by heat and smoke before six retained firefighters from the town arrived just before noon on Saturday.

A Green Goddess accompanied by a police escort also went to the fire in an end terrace house but it had been dealt with by the retained firefighters from the town by the time they arrived.

Leading firefighter Trevor Stokes said: "We answered the call as it was a life-threatening situation, which we will do during the strike.

"We are behind the Fire Brigades Union 100 per cent and will not respond unless life is threatened.

"We were at the scene within three and a half minutes of the call. The upstairs of the house was alight and smoke-filled, and we found an elderly man in an upstairs bedroom."

Oxfordshire's Chief Fire Officer John Parry praised firefighters for their work.

He added: "They did the best they could and their response was not affected by the strike.

"They acted as I hope all firefighters would in Oxfordshire by responding to a confirmed life-threatening situation."

Mrs Mason, who lives two doors away, said: "I was upstairs working on my computer and had smelled some smoke but checked my house and found nothing.

"The door bell went and it was a neighbour saying there was smoke or steam coming from the end house. My husband Keith went and found the house full of smoke and he came back and we dialled 999.

"We both went back with wet tea towels but were beaten back half way up the stairs by the heat and smoke. Another neighbour got a ladder. I called the emergency services again and was told a Green Goddess was on the way, but then the local firemen arrived. They were extremely quick but of course they are local. The strike should never have got this far.

"I did not know the man well, I think he had lived in the house about six or seven years."

Pc Trevor Newbery, from Kidlington, was the first police officer to arrive.

"The Woodstock Fire Brigade were here very quickly and did everything they could to save the gentleman. The fire does not appear suspicious," he said.

A spokesman for the Army said: "We deployed a Green Goddess with a police escort but the incident had been dealt with by the local fire crew by the time we arrived."

The cause of the fire is being investigated.