AN elderly man has been taken to a specialist burns unit in Essex after collapsing on an electric heater.

Paramedics were called to Brook Street, Elsworth, at 11.10am yesterday (Tuesday), and found the 85-year-old with thrid degree burns on one side of his body and had problems breathing.

He was taken by the East of England Air Ambulance to the specialist burns unit at Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, Essex.

A spokesman for the air ambulance said: “The man collapsed on a ‘plug-in’ electric heater and we believe he rested on it for some time due to the severity of his burns.”