An elderly man was left trapped in his attic for three days after hurting his leg while checking his central heating.

Henry Pratt, 81, was saved by firefighters using specialist mountain rescue equipment after a worried neighbour raised the alarm yesterday evening.

Mr Pratt, known to his friends as Mike, was taken to Mayday Hospital suffering from severe dehydration.

The retired builder had lived alone for more than 25 years since the death of his wife Hazel, and had begun to struggle hearing the phone ring or knocks at the door.

Neighbour and friend David Henwood, 77, said Mr Pratt’s ordeal was a warning to all elderly people about the dangers of being “too independent”.

He said: “If we had a problem in the house Mike would always come and take a look at it.

“He lived alone but did all his own cleaning and cooking, and he obviously had qualifications in building so he was a really independent individual.

“Personally if I’m going out picking apples and up a ladder I always have my wife there, in case I should slip and fall. There’s a danger of being too independent.

“I would go up in the attic and look at my central heating system - which was fitted by Mike incidentally - but only because my wife’s here in case something happens.

“It’s a warning to all of us.”

Police were called to the house in Caterham Drive, Coulsdon after a concerned neighbour found the front door locked from the inside when they attempted to get in using a spare key.

Mr Pratt, who Mr Henwood said had been “having trouble with his leg”, was found in the loft by police after they forced their way into the house.

Firefighters used a special “basket stretcher” to carry Mr Pratt from the roof space, and he was treated at the scene by an ambulance crew before being taken to Mayday Hospital.

White Watch crew manager Paul Barnett said: “He’d been up there for three days and was dehydrated, but was conscious and generally ok.

“When you are up there in the dark I imagine you lose touch of days and nights.”

Do you know Mr Pratt? Contact Mike Didymus on 020 8330 9556, or email mdidymus@london.newsquest.co.uk