An 84-year-old woman needed hospital treatment following a fire in her room at a nursing home.

Fire crews were called to Brooklands Nursing Home in Old Parr Road, Banbury, at 4pm yesterday.

A visitor to the home helped the pensioner escape the blaze, thought to have been started by an electrical appliance, before firefighters arrived.

Watch manager Gary Dawson said members of staff were quickly alerted by the fire alarms but the visitor’s prompt action had minimised the woman’s exposure to smoke.