An elderly man was woken by his fire alarm to find the rubbish bin next to his bed was on fire.

Firefighters were called at 7.10am today to the man's home, in sheltered accommodation in London Road, Chipping Norton.

Firefighters said the bin had been next to the bed and would have set light to bed linen within seconds if the smoke alarm had not gone off and woken the man.

Two fire crews from Chipping Norton Fire Station put out the blaze.