AN elderly couple had to be rescued from their bedroom after a fire ripped through their Eastham home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service was called to the couple's Tudor-style home near Eastham Village Road at 3.58am.

The elderly couple became trapped upstairs after the fire, which is believed to have been started accidentally by an electrical appliance.

Thick smoke could be seen pouring from the property's window.

Station Manager Barry Moore said: “Firefighters were quickly on scene, rapidly deployed on arrival and brought an elderly man and woman, who were in a first floor bedroom, out of the property. The fire was located on the ground floor of the property when firefighters arrived at the scene. Flames were visible through a ground floor window and smoke was issuing from open windows on the first floor. The property was severely smoke-logged.

“The man who was brought out of the property was unconscious and he was handed into the care of paramedics. Firefighters led the elderly woman from the first floor and also handed her to paramedics.

“Two other women, who were out of the property when firefighters arrived, were also taken to hospital for precautionary checks.”

Both the elderly man and woman were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.