Eight people are being treated in hospital for burns and the effects of smoke inhalation - the family, a neighbour and a fireman.

A toddler was rescued by being passed through a bedroom window as her three sisters, aged three, six and 10, lay unconscious inside the family home in Cheadle, near Manchester.

Their father escaped by jumping from a second-floor window ledge.

The fire brigade was called to a fire on the ground floor of the semi-detached property just after 0230 GMT on Sunday.

Intensive care

A spokeswoman said: "The father was encouraged to jump from a front bedroom window by a neighbour who broke his fall.

"An 18-month-old girl was passed to a fireman on a ladder from an upstairs window by the mother, who is six-months pregnant. She was then persuaded to leave the house down the ladder."

The spokeswoman described how one of the three unconscious children had stopped breathing and was successfully revived by fire fighters.

"One of our fire crew has also been taken to hospital with burns to his cheek, chin and fingers," she added.

The injured were taken to nearby Withenshaw and Withington hospitals.