A mum has described how her husband rescued an elderly neighbour in the dead of night, clad only in his underpants.

Caroline Burke was at home with her husband Paul at Green Lane in Broadstairs when they heard banging and scrambling noises at the property next door early on Saturday.

They could smell burning and smoke in their home, so Caroline woke up her children to get them out of the house.

She said: “We had just gone to bed when we could hear banging and scrabbling from next door.

“We rushed out of bed and could smell an awful burning and acrid smell, and there was smoke throughout our house.

“My husband told me to get the children out, while he rescued the lady from her home. The lady was so scared to leave her home and wouldn’t let go of her front door. She was very frightened and disorientated.

“My husband was a true hero, he was wearing only a pair of underpants. He managed to get her away from the house to the ambulance.

“Without his quick thinking, both my family and the lady next door may not be here to tell the tale.”

Caroline has praised her neighbours who provided the family with tea, biscuits, and crisps and took in the children while Red Watch teams from four fire engines battled the blaze in the ground floor of the property.

The crews even invited her 10-year-old and seven-year-old son to sit in the cab of the fire engine to help calm them down and take their fear away.

The fire crews left the scene at 2.45am after using ventilation fans to clear the smoke from the house.