RESIDENTS of Hemswell have rallied round to help an elderly man whose home was damaged by fire at the weekend.

Villagers were shocked and concerned after a blaze took hold of the home of retired Church Street resident John Marshall, who is in his seventies.

As firefighters in five fire engines from Saxilby and Humberside arrived to battle the flames at 10.20pm on Saturday, April 19, Hemswell residents could only stand and watch the blaze.

Their main concern was for the safety of Mr Marshall - who was unavailable for comment on Monday, April 21 - but he was safe and well, despite the fact that it is likely he has lost everything he owned.

Chairman of Hemswell Parish Council Coun Barry Dutton, 69, of Church street, said: “I was very shocked and concerned for Mr Marshall, as was the whole village.

“Our main priority when we saw the fire was to make sure that he was OK.”

Coun Dutton, recalling the drama of the fire on Saturday night, said: “We were woken up by the fire engines, we could here the loud crackling and we could see the flames going up.

“Our main priority was to make sure that Mr Marshall was okay.”

Neighbours of Mr Dutton had heard some loud bangs as the fire raged, and on Sunday, April 21, they were giving information to the Police.

Mr Dutton added that Mr Marshall had stayed with the Ward family in the village as he is a very close friend of theirs.

The Parish Council intend to appeal to West Lindsey District Council for help in finding Mr Marshall a new home, as an investigation by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, which was launched on Monday, April 21, continues to establish what caused the blaze.

Coun Barry Hart, 72, who is Deputy Chairman of Hemswell Parish Council was equally concerned about Mr Marshall.

“It was a siren from one fire engine which woke me, then later four more arrived.

“It was very intense, I can not think that there is anything left of the house, but the good thing is that no one was hurt,” said Coun Hart.