Arsonists may have been behind a fire which has left a 77-year-old man suffering from burns and severe smoke inhalation in hospital.

The pensioner was forced to battle through flames to stagger from his blazing home in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The fire ripped through the living room in his two-storey terrace house in Abbey Road.

Last night detectives appealed for witnesses and said the incident was being treated as a suspected arson.

The man, named locally as Frank and believed to be deaf, suffered severe smoke inhalation and burns to his body.

Yesterday a police spokes-man said he was in a comfortable condition at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Next door neighbour Miguel Rosado said: “I was sleeping, it was about 2am and there was a knock on the door and this man, half naked, was saying ‘fire! fire!’ “I called the fire service. I was half asleep, but I took him inside and he was sitting on my sofa.

“I saw his burnt hair falling on my sofa and on the floor.

“He wanted to go back to the house and I said ‘no, you stay there’. He was probably absolutely lost and at the same time he was terrified.

“The fire brigade came in no more than five minutes. They were very, very fast.

“I was worried about my house. I could not stay in the house, I went out into the street in my dressing gown.

“After an hour, two hours, I was able to go back in.”

Fire crews and forensic officers stayed at the scene as an investigation into the cause of the blaze got under way.

Det Ch Insp Paul Hayles said: “The exact nature of the cause of the fire is being investigated and I would like to hear from anyone who was in the Abbey Road area in the early hours of this morning who may have seen or heard anything suspicious.”

Margaret Croft, 85, who lives opposite the fire-damaged house, said: “I did not hear anything until this morning when I found I had a note from the police.”

Fire crews from Rewley Road and The Slade were called to the incident.

A fire service spokesman said: “The fire was prevented from spreading to adjoining properties and was quickly brought under control by fire crews wearing breathing apparatus.”

Anyone with information can call police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.