A FARNHAM grandmother rescued an elderly blind woman from her blazing front room on Tuesday morning.

Patricia Ward, 66, a carer for Farnham-based Wey Care, had just attended a client's house in Fullers Road, Rowledge, when she saw smoke coming from the house next door just before 10 am.

Sitting in the front room was an elderly woman with flames up to a foot in height lapping around her feet.

"She was incapacitated because she couldn't see," recalled Patricia a few hours after her heroics.

"The smoke was pitch black and there were flames lapping around her and all I could hear was 'Help! Help!'"

Patricia struggled for five minutes to persuade the woman, who has not been named by emergency services, to leave the house.

"She kept saying 'I'm not leaving'. At one point she even tried to put out the fire herself and I had visions of her going up in smoke with her nightie on, but in the end I think she realised it was serious and I managed to get her out with great difficulty.

"I told her that she must come out, otherwise she would go up in flames."

By that time a neighbour had arrived and the emergency services had been contacted.

The woman, whose age has also not been released but who was estimated by Patricia to be in her 60s, was treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns to her feet by paramedics at the scene. Patricia was taken to Frimley Park Hospital where she was treated for smoke inhalation.

Speaking the day after her rescue, Patricia was still feeling nauseous because of the smoke inhalation, but the grandmother of five said she would do the same again.

"It's something instinctive in everyone, it's not something you stop and think about," she said.

Fire engines from Farnham, Haslemere and Bordon attended the blaze, with firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entering the building.

By 10-20 am the fire was under control and the only damage was a burnt carpet and floor.

Farnham fire station's Mark Butteriss, the officer in charge at the time, said the damage could have been far worse had the fire happened during a firefighters' strike.

"We got there in nine minutes. If it had been left to the Army it would have been much worse. They wouldn't have been able to respond as quickly and they would have only been able to spray water onto the flames from the outside because they haven't got breathing apparatus."

Praising Patricia's efforts, Mr Butteriss said: "It was a very public spirited thing to do. Entering any building that's on fire is dangerous and she went in there without any regard for her own safety."