Two men were rescued from a fire yesterday after a camera hidden inside an oven exploded.

The men, thought to be in their late 20s, were led from a first floor flat in Sidney Street, in Whitechapel, by firefighters using breathing apparatus at around 11pm.

Paramedics treated them for smoke inhalation at the scene.

It emerged that one of the men had hidden the SLR camera inside the oven following a recent spate of burglaries.

Someone had then turned the oven on and the camera exploded.

The blaze, which was under control within 15 minutes, destroyed the oven and damaged some of the kitchen.

A spokesman from Whitechapel fire station said: “When I opened the oven I had expected to find some kind of dish, but instead there were remains of a camera.

“I’d advise people not to put their cameras in the oven.”