A compulsive hoarder was left trapped for 30 hours after getting stuck under a mountain of his own clutter.
Retired engineer Noel Rainer, 85, became wedged between a chaotic mess of bags, boxes and piles of debris after falling over a 2ft-high mound of paper in his kitchen.
The pensioner couldn't even reach his nearby phone to call for help because of the clutter, which covers every inch of his home in Halstead, Essex.
It was only when Mr Rainer's relatives became concerned that police and firefighters were called in to help rescue him from his home.
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Mr Rainer is thought to have Diogenes syndrome, also known as senile squalor syndrome, which means he can't stop hoarding rubbish.
As he recovered from his ordeal with daughter Cherry, he said: 'I had a pile of papers about 2ft high and I just stepped back and fell over backwards.
'My legs were in the air and I was just in a little cocoon. I was just on my own. I knew I would be OK, but it was a bit lonely. I had Radio 3 on the whole time so I kept up with the news.'
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