Pensioner Mary Bradshaw was recovering today after an electric blanket, thought to be 40 years old, set fire to her bungalow.

Mary, 89, was about to go to bed at 2am when the blanket burst into flames as she was about to switch it off.

She managed to get out of the bedroom and ring the fire brigade.

Neighbours heard her screaming for help after she reached the front door of her home in Mash Barn Lane, Lancing.

Today, West Sussex Fire Brigade urged people not to use old electric blankets and to only purchase ones fitted with modern cut-out equipment.

As he inspected the charrred remains of Mary's extensively damaged home, her neighbour Ron Linton said: "Having seen all this damage, if people have got these old electric blankets they should get rid of them now."

Recovering at Mr Linton's home, Mary, a spinster, said she had stayed up late to watch a film and put the electric blanket on to warm up her bed.

She said: "I was just going to go to bed wen I smelt smoke and knew something was burning somewhere.

"I turned off all the electric switches and then went into the bedroom and saw a big, brown scorch mark on the bottom of my bed.

"Then it suddenly all burst into flames."

Mary said she did not know how long she had owned the blanket but admitted: "Its been a long while."

An ambulance crew treated Mary for smoke inhalation at the scene but decided she did not need to go to hospital Mary insisted not been lucky. "I wasn't in any danger because I could get out through the front ad the back."

But Mr Linton said: "I have seen the damage and I think she is the luckiest woman in the world."