AN ELDERLY man who pulled his 94-year-old neighbour from a blazing cottage has told the Daily Echo he acted instinctively.

Heroic Dougie Fay, 76, rescued neighbour Stan Duke from the divided cottage they shared at Moor Crichel, near Wimborne, on Thursday night.

Mr Fay was sitting down to dinner when he heard a loud bang from the adjoining bungalow.

"I ran outside the house and the whole window was blown out," said Mr Fay.

Still reeling, Mr Fay saw Mr Duke staggering from his house.

"He was stood up in the porch way with smoke all around him when I got round," said Mr Fay.

"He collapsed and I grabbed him by the feet and dragged him out."

Mr Fay then ran to nearby Crichel House to raise the alarm before returning to his stricken neighbour and attempted to revive him while shouting for help as the emergency services arrived.

"I kept hollering and hollering and they came looking," he said.

Fire chiefs said the blaze was started by heat radiating from an electric fire to Mr Duke's armchair, which had been pulled up close. A spokesman said it was a further transference of heat from the chair to an oil-fired heater which caused the explosion.

"It went up in a matter of seconds. It was like an oil tanker," said Mr Fay, recalling the aftermath of the explosion.

The retired farm worker played down the bravery of his actions, saying he had acted "on automatic".

But he admitted that events affected him when he had time to reflect on his actions.

"Last night my stomach was going over and over. I felt sick all night," said Mr Fay.

Friends nearby have welcomed the retired farm worker into their home while the Crichel Estate finds new premises for its burned out tenants. Mr Duke is in a stable condition in Poole hospital's intensive care unit after suffering smoke inhalation.