NEIGHBOURS are rallying round to help an elderly woman who was pulled from her burning home as the roof collapsed.

Residents in Foxhall Close, East Bergholt, donated clothing to help the 87-year-old woman, whose bungalow was destroyed in the house fire on Monday afternoon.

Neighbour Shirley Allen, 67, arrived home from shopping to hear the fire alarm and smell smoke, but did not immediately realise how serious the fire was.

She said: “I don’t know what made me, but I happened to look across and saw the house.

“There was a blaze at the front and at the back, I have never seen so much smoke, I couldn’t believe it.

“If I hadn’t got home when I did, or been another three minutes later, I think the smoke would have got her."

Mrs Allen praised the eight fire crews and Babergh Council staff who were quickly on the scene and the residents who helped.

She said: “It is really sad, that woman is 87 and all she has is one slipper and the clothes she was wearing. How sad is that? All her memorabilia, there is nothing left.”

The woman, who was checked over by paramedics, is understood to be staying with her son.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing.