Ref: 15034/1WILTSHIRE TIMES EXCLUSIVE: A WAR hero has been left homeless after fire gutted his bungalow at the weekend.

Bill Cheeseman, 83, was gardening when the blaze broke out at his home in Thornhill Road, Warminster, on Saturday afternoon.

The ex-Navy officer smelled smoke and tried to put the blaze out with a garden hose but was beaten back when an explosion blew the windows out.

The pensioner was honoured with the Distinguished Service Medal in 1943 from King George VI after his ship was torpedoed in the Mediterranean.

Now he has been told he cannot return to the retirement home he bought with his wife 20 years ago for up to six months.

Mr Cheeseman said: "I was in my garden for about 45 minutes and I started to smell smoke, I thought someone had lit a bonfire out in the road.

"When I walked up to the house I realised it was coming from my kitchen so I called the fire brigade and reached for the garden hose."

The pensioner used the hose to extinguish the flames from the hallway but was forced back after paint canisters exploded, blowing the windows and kitchen door out.

He said: "The heat wasn't so bad, it was all the smoke billowing out of the kitchen that was the problem.

"I tried at first with the hose but it wasn't working and when the kitchen exploded I got a singed face and hair.

"To be honest I had to encounter worse during my years in the Navy."

Father-of-three Mr Cheeseman was hailed a war hero after surviving a German torpedo that hit his ship, HMS The Manxman, during the Second World War.

He moved to Warminster in 1984 to retire with his wife, who died three years ago.

He said: "The fire brigade told me I would not be able to move back home for up to six months and everything inside will have to be taken away and cleaned. A friend opposite has let me take her spare room so I can keep an eye on the house but it is a permanent reminder.

"The kitchen is completely gutted and there is smoke damage in some of the other rooms."

Mr Cheeseman was taken to Eastleigh Surgery in Westbury to be treated for smoke inhalation after the fire.

Three fire engines and 18 fire fighters were called to the blaze shortly after 2pm on Saturday, and it took two- and-a-half hours to extinguish.

Chris Trimby, Warminster station officer, said: "The resident did the right thing by closing the kitchen door and keeping the fire in one room but we would not recommend anyone to tackle a house fire with a garden hose.

"We believe the fire was caused by faulty electric wiring behind the cooker."

Officers were in Thornhill Road on Wednesday evening to carry out fire safety checks in homes and to fit smoke alarms free of charge.