An elderly woman was rescued today after she was found unconscious in her kitchen with gas leaking out of a cooker.

The alarm was raised early in the morning when a nurse called at the woman's house in Sliema and no one opened the door. She peeped though the letter box and immediately noticed the smell of gas.

The police were called and officers broke down the door and found the woman unconscious in the kitchen with gas leaking from an unlit burner.

The woman was taken to hospital for treatment. The officers were also treated for gas inhalation.