A young child was passed to firefighters from a first floor window as flames tore through a guesthouse in the early hours of this morning.

Up to six other residents were rescued by crew wearing breathing apparatus at the blaze at the Ferndale Hotel, Mansfield Road, Ilford just before 1am.

Six appliances, including two from Ilford, attended the scene which was one of confusion over how many residents were inside the burning building.

One firefighter said: “One man, carrying a baby, climbed out of a window and on to a flat roof at the back. He had to pass the child to a firefighter and then we went up and got him with a ladder.

“The place was well alight, and the roof too. We had a register of people supposed to be in the building and there were people we couldn’t find so it all took a while.”

He added: “We left at about 3am.”

Crews donnned breathing apparatus to lead more residents to safety via an internal staircase, and another man was reportedly found with lacerations to his wrists after smashing a downstairs window in an attempt to rescue trapped occupants trapped. A firefighter said: “He was badly cut, there was a lot of blood.”

Poplar Station Manager Richard Welch who was at the scene of the incident said: “It was a difficult job and our crews worked really hard to prevent the fire from spreading and causing any more damage.”

Did you witness the fire? Did you take pictures? Call the newsdesk on 020 8477 3821 or tim.dickens@archant.co.uk.