Rotherham firefighters led two families to safety in the early hours of Saturday morning after a shed fire spread to two houses on Fitzwilliam Road in Eastwood.

A 15 year-old girl from one of the houses called 999 after hearing the family's smoke alarm and spotting flames at around 3.30am.

When fire crews arrived they discovered the shed blaze had set both semi-detached properties on fire. Seven people were led to safety in total – a 15 year-old girl, her 10 year-old brother and their grandmother from one house, and a mum and her three children from the other property.

All were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene but didn't need  to attend hospital. The fire caused damage to some external fittings and caused smoke logging inside the houses.

Watch Manager Chris Clegg from Rotherham station said: “Had it not been for the smoke alarms which SYFR had fitted, this fire could have had terrible consequences.

“We could have been dealing with two much bigger house fires if the young girl hadn't woken when she did, and called 999.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.