AN elderly man has died in a fire that completely destroyed his home.

Firefighters from Stourport and Kidderminster were called out to a bungalow on Narroway Lane in Crossway Green, near Stourport-on-Severn, at 8am.

The man is believed to be 76-year-old Harry Fields.

A resident from the nearby Shorthill Caravan Park, in Hartlebury, who was the first person at the scene, raised the alarm.

The man told the Evening News he tried to get in to the bungalow by smashing a window and breaking down the front door.

But his act of bravery was defeated each time as he was beaten back by heavy smoke.

This morning, police had to cordon off the area to keep the 30 to 40 shocked residents of the caravan park away from the building, as firefighters damped it down.

One onlooker said the bungalow, which is in a secluded area surrounded by trees behind a Little Chef restaurant off the A449 Worcester to Kidderminster road, was still smouldering.

Alex Mackie, spokesman for Worcester and Hereford Fire Brigade, said fire fighters had to use breathing apparatus to enter the property but found the man lying on the floor.

Paramedics later pronounced him dead.