AN unconscious woman was pulled out of a burning house in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in Stainfield Road, Northway, at about 3.30am, where they found the alarms sounding and smoke in the front sitting room.

Wearing breathing apparatus, they forced their way into the building and rescued the woman, who was unconscious in the ground floor sitting room.

Firefighters then re-entered the property and extinguished the blaze.

A neighbour raised the alert after hearing the alarms and seeing smoke in the home.

Station Manager Gary D’Anger said: "This was an example where a smoke alarm sounding prevented what could well have been a fatal incident.

"The actions of the neighbour on hearing this alarm together with a rapid response and actions by fire crews prevented this incident from being a severe fire with possible fatal consequences."

The fire is believed to have been started accidentally by what firefighters described as carelessly discarded smoking materials.