Fundraiser for elderly couple after 'shocking' fire

A fundraiser has been started after an elderly couple lost their home and belongings in a house fire.

Sylvia, 88, and her 92-year-old husband Fred had lived in their home in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, for more than 60 years before it was ravaged by a blaze in the early hours of 25 April.

Now, one of the couple's neighbours has launched a fundraiser in the hope of helping support the couple through the situation.

Melissa Head, who is behind the effort, said the elderly couple had been left "completely in shock" at the fire and were now temporarily living in a hotel.

She explained that the couple, as well as their son and his partner who had been living at the house at the time of the blaze, all "managed to get out" of their home safely during the fire.

"They've been in the hospital, they've been cleared and discharged, but they're very shook up," Head said.

"They have lost everything - absolutely everything."

Head said the couple had been together for 62 years and had more or less lived in the Oxfordshire village ever since.

"I've been here for 23 years and they've always been so kind and generous to me," she said.

"We live in a lovely community - he whole cul-de-sac just helps each other out when we need, and we just support each other," she added.

The fundraiser supporting the couple had raised more than £2,000.

Explaining why she started raising the money, Head said: "We are literally just trying everything we can to keep them settled and get them back on their feet."