A WOMAN in her seventies had to be rescued from her home after a garage attached to a property caught on fire.

Firefighters were called to Booth Avenue, Colchester at 3.15am this morning where a car under a carport was alight.

Station Officer Alan Cutter from Colchester fire station said: “When crews arrived at the incident the car was parked on the driveway under a carport. The fire had started to spread to the structure of the carport and garage.

“Crews quickly extinguished the fire and prevented it from spreading to the house.

“Meanwhile, other members of the crew wearing breathing apparatus entered the house and rescued a woman in her seventies from the first floor of the property. The firefighters led her to safety from the smoke filled house.”

The woman was left in the care of the Ambulance Service.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage, but ECFRS and the police will carry out an investigation.