An elderly woman has been taken to hospital after a blaze ripped through a house in Edmonton, causing part of the roof to collapse.

Elsie Reynolds, 86, of was taken to North Middlesex Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and shock as flames tore through the house next door to her own in Eastbournia Avenue, Edmonton.

Crews were called to the blaze in Eastbournia Avenue, Lower Edmonton at 4am last night with around 30 firefighters and six engines attending the scene.

The house has been derelict since 2009 and neighbours have suggested that squatters have been using the house regularly.

Mrs reynolds' neighbour Andy Wilson, 64, took the elderly woman into his home while his wife telephoned the police

He said: “The fire was raging from the upstairs window. My wife called the police and I grabbed the keys for next door and let myself in. I went upstairs to grab Mrs Reynolds and brought her into our home. The ambulance took her away and my wife went with her.

“We think there have been squatters in the house for the past 18 months but whether it was them who started the fire, I have no idea.”

Another neighbour described it as a “huge fire” with “flames everywhere.”

Fire crews from Enfield, Edmonton, Hornsey, Southgate, Barking and Dowgate tackled the fire which caused the roof to collapse into the front garden as firefighters were putting up a ladder.