FIREFIGHTERS rescued a mother and three children from a house fire in Blackburn.

The blaze broke out in the kitchen and smoke was seen billowing out of the top floor of the property on Laxey Road in Higher Croft.

It started in the early hours of Wednesday morning and three fire engines from Blackburn and Darwen attended after being alerted by residents.

A window at the front of the house was boarded up which is believed to be occupied by a mother and three children, one being a new born baby.

A resident told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I was woken in the early hours and could see smoke coming out of the top window at the back.

“The fire service must have got in through the front window and you could see it started in the kitchen. The fire brigade were here pretty quickly and they were joined by two ambulances and two police cars. It was the first time we have seen anything like that on this street.

“Thankfully the occupants were rescued. You could hear the mum in the backyard afterwards. There seems to be a lot of smoke damage.”

Homes on Laxey Road back up onto the gardens of the East Lancashire Hospice.

A fire service statement said: “The fire was in the kitchen of a terraced property and firefighters used four breathing apparatus and a positive ventilation fan to extinguish the fire. Four people were rescued from the first floor bedroom window by firefighters and received precautionary checks before going to hospital for a further check.”