Firemen in Germany were forced to don gas masks to rescue a bedridden obese man who had not washed in five years.

Neighbours of the 25-stone man thought their apartment block in the town of Nurtigen near Stuttgart, had been targeted in a chemical attack when firemen turned up wearing bio-hazard suits and respirators.

But it was because of conditions inside the 65-year-old's apartment - described as 'absolute hell' by one firefighter - which forced them into such drastic precautions.

Firemen were forced to don gas masks to rescue a bedridden obese man who had not washed in five years

Firemen remove the obese man from his home in an apartment block in in the town of Nurtigen near Stuttgart

The man was too fat to exit through the door and had to be lowered with a crane to a waiting ambulance

'It was knee deep in rubbish, from rotting pizza boxes to old food and tins....and vermin rustling about,' the firefighter added. 'The smell was indescribable.'

Firemen had to smash the front door to his apartment down because there was too much rubbish behind it to push open.

The morbidly obese man was was found amid a pile of the refuse with serious difficulty breathing. A neighbour called police after hearing rhythmic tapping on her ceiling - his SOS for help.

The man was too fat to exit through the door to his home and had to be lowered with a crane to a waiting ambulance.

Firefighters were later seen hosing off the equipment used to hoist the foul-smelling man from the apartment

Conditions inside the 65-year-old's apartment which forced firemen to take such drastic precautions

Firemen had to smash the front door to the apartment down because there was too much rubbish behind it to push open - but the man could not fit through the door so had to be lowered out by crane

Firefighters were later seen hosing off the equipment used to hoist the obese and foul-smelling man from the apartment block and disinfecting their protective clothing.

He told rescuers that he had been unable to wash and dress himself for the past five years and lived on take-out food that was delivered to his apartment.

A neighbour told a German newspaper: 'We had no idea what kind of state his apartment was in, but we got a whiff of it after firemen opened the front door.'

Neighbours of the 25-stone man thought their apartment block had been targeted in a chemical attack when firemen turned up wearing bio-hazard suits and respirators

The man told his rescuers that he had been unable to wash and dress himself for the past five years and lived on take-out food that was delivered to his apartment

The morbidly obese man was was found amid a pile of stinking refuse with serious difficulty breathing