AN ELDERLY woman was carried to safety after fire crews used a sledgehammer to break into her smoke-filled home in Gunnislake.

Crews from Callington and Saltash were called to Lower Dimson at 2.40pm on Saturday where a burning saucepan of food had been left on the cooker.

Firefighters rescued the woman from an upstairs bedroom and she was treated by ambulance staff for smoke inhalation.